When making travel plans, most people avoid countries the U.S. State Department calls “dangerous or unstable.” Others stride boldly into those countries in the name of research and knowledge. Meet Professor Will Reno, the Indiana Jones of Northwestern University — or, as the Nigerians call him, Mr. Mustache.

He looks more like a guy who sails a fishing boat than a stuffy professor — which makes sense, since he worked on one to pay for school. A quick glance around his cluttered office reveals a bike, a Washington Capitals hockey poster, and a canister of grits, along with binders full of field notes.

Reno, director of the graduate program for political science, spends about a quarter each year in Africa researching the behavior and organization of armed groups. “Where does war come from? Why do people fight? How do we make peace?” he asks. “These are more interesting to me than narrower political science questions.” He’s traveled to to Somalia, the Caucasus, Sudan, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in search of answers.

Photo by Katherine Tang / North by Northwestern.

Reno immerses himself in African cultures while he’s abroad to better understand his research subjects. Reno has learned to speak Hausa (a native language of Nigeria) and say prayers in Arabic. His cell phone plays the hadith at the time of prayer, five times a day. “Sometimes I don’t speak the language but… [if] we can recite the same prayer, whether I’m Muslim or not, it brings down barriers,” he says.

It’s also his warmth and credibility that makes him accessible to Africans. “Sierra Leonians love him,” says Chris Day, a Northwestern graduate student who accompanied Reno on his latest trip. “He knows so much about their country, and people really respect him for that.” This likability helps Reno garner some favor and insight into the world of Africa’s rebel leaders. And a good thing, too—while in these conflict areas, Reno relies on the goodwill of rebel groups and governments for safety and access to the leaders and soldiers.

“It’s interesting to be around them,” he says. “They are very different from other people in their societies. Real leadership is about charisma, taking risks and knowing how to work it out.”

Despite the danger of being in unstable areas or near pockets of violence, Reno insists that he and his team always take precautions. The biggest threats are actually tropical illness and road safety. “[We’re not] running through a field with people carrying guns,” he says. “They might be under rebel control, but the areas themselves are relatively stable and orderly.”

In fact, Reno says the hardest part of his field research is not avoiding hostile troops or bodily injury but seeing the human tragedies that emerge. While working as a translator for a British garrison during the Sierre Leonian civil war in 1991, the victims of violence confided in him. “You see things that outsiders who don’t speak the language never see,” he says. “You become an intermediary, a channel for resources for the desperate people. You never promise them anything, because you can’t give them much.”

Photo by Katherine Tang / North by Northwestern.

Back in Evanston, Reno’s affable personality extends to Northwestern students. Day’s family loves him — they have Reno over for dinner and his son calls him Uncle Will. “My wife will cook three to four extra portions, and he will consume all of it,” laughs Day, who is also Reno’s advisee.

Reno currently teaches African politics to both graduates and undergraduates. “It’s one of the weird strains of a university, they reward you by giving you less teaching,” he says. Despite his administrative duties, Reno would prefer teaching more.

As far as how people back home react to his adventures abroad, Reno isn’t sure he sees the Indy resemblance. “That’s Hollywood,” he says, chuckling and leaning back in his chair. “Those are such silly movies. As a nickname, if people want to call me that, that’s fine. It’s better than Mr. Mustache.”