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SIS
Professor Named D.C. Professor of the Year
 Akbar Ahmed
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Akbar Ahmed has another achievement to add to his long list, and it’s
one that won’t come as a surprise to his students: Professor of
the Year for the District of Columbia.
The 2004 teaching award is the latest of many achievements for the professor
of international relations, who has been described by the BBC as “the
world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam” and by Britain’s
Archbishop of Canterbury as “one of the most important scholars
of Islam today.”
The honor was awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
The award salutes professors who excel as teachers and influence the lives
and careers of their students.
“I’m a tough old-fashioned schoolteacher who likes to move
his class at a brisk pace,” Ahmed says. He is also a diplomat, a
scholar, a filmmaker, and an activist on interfaith dialogue who carries
his message from university campuses to TV’s Oprah.
As Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at AU since January 2001, Ahmed teaches
such courses as “The World of Islam” to packed rooms of students
curious to learn about this timely and controversial subject. He tells
his students that, as scholars of Islam, they have a responsibility
to back up any statements they make with evidence. “He’s challenging
but encouraging at the same time. You feel pushed, but you don’t
feel intimidated,” says Farah Tayfour ’06, who took the class
to learn about the Muslim part of her heritage.
Ahmed’s role as Pakistan’s ambassador to Great Britain brought
him into contact with some of the world’s most influential people,
and he shares those contacts generously with his AU students, who regularly
meet ambassadors and other policy makers he invites to his classes
as guest speakers.
Ahmed has also authored numerous books, including Islam Under Siege: Living
Dangerously In a Post-Honor World, Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament
and Promise, Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World, and
Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society, which was
the basis of the BBC six-part TV series called Living Islam.
The Professor of the Year award recognizes faculty for their scholarship,
dedication to undergraduate teaching, and community impact. Ahmed has
made a difference in all those areas. Says Tunisian ambassador Hatem Atallah, “He has truly made an extraordinary impact in this town and beyond.”
-by Sally Acharya, originally published in American Weekly
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