Mahamadou Lamine Sagna has a PhD in Sociology, a degree in Business (financial management) and Ethnopsychiatry. He is the inaugural director of WPI's Africana Studies program, and is an associate researcher at the Laboratory for Social and Political Change (LSCP) at the University of Paris-Diderot. He conducts research on social networks, globalization, money, symbolism of exchanges, poverty and exclusion, and the use of technology and science by economically disadvantaged populations. 

In parallel to his experiences in the USA and France, he gives courses and conferences internationally (Shanghai, Paris, New York, Abidjan, Lagos, Dakar). He is the author of several articles and two books: Violences, Racisme et Religions en Amérique – Cornel West, Une Pensée Rebelle published by Karan, 2017 and Monnaie et Sociétés, published by Harmattan in 2001. 

Professor Sagna has taught sociology and social science methods in the United States, at the University of Maryland (College Park) from 2000 to 2002, Princeton University from 2002 to 2011; in France – Schiller University from 2014-2015 to 2017-2018; and in Nigeria from 2018 to 2020. His teaching experience includes courses on Money and Religion, Science, Technology and Development, and Economic Culture in Africa.

From 1994 to 1999 he co-hosted a monthly seminar on Finance, Ethics and Trust at the Caisse des Dépôts et des Consignations, as part of the Association d’Economie Financière. At the same time, he was a researcher at the Strategy and Planning Department of the Banque Postale in France, where he carried out research on the relationship of populations in difficulty with this institution on the one hand, and their relationship with money on the other. 

Founder of an organization of the Senegalese Diaspora whose objective is to create and strengthen professional networks and contribute to the development of Senegal, Mahamadou Lamine Sagna organizes “Homecoming” conferences every two years in Senegal.

Visit Digital WPI to view student projects and research advised by Professor Sagna.