Education and Scholarship

Ford Foundation Appoints Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im as Resident Scholar

NEW YORK, May 4, 2007—The Ford Foundation announced today that Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, a professor of law and a leading scholar of Islam, will join the Foundation as a Resident Scholar.

Internationally recognized for his work on the relationship between religion, human rights and secularism, Professor An-Na'im is currently the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University in Atlanta. In addition to teaching courses on international law, human rights, and Islamic law, Professor An-Na'im has written extensively on Islam and politics and constitutionalism in Islamic and African countries.

"My colleagues and I are delighted that Professor An- Na'im accepted our invitation to come to the Foundation" said Alison Bernstein, Vice President of the Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom program at the Ford Foundation. "An-Na'im is one of the world's most thoughtful and respected scholars of Islam. His writing combines extensive knowledge of religious texts and traditions with longstanding expertise in human rights law. He has the creativity and imagination to see how various religious beliefs and values can intersect to produce positive change in peoples' lives."

Born in Sudan, Professor An-Na'im became involved in the Islamic reform movement while a student at the University of Khartoum in the late 1960's. After gaining his PhD in Law at the University of Edinburgh in 1976, Professor An-Na'im taught at the University of Khartoum until 1985. He held a series of academic posts in the US, Canada and Sweden before being appointed Executive Director of the Africa Bureau of Human Rights Watch in Washington in 1993.

During his eight-month residency at the Ford Foundation, Professor An-Na'im will work on a monograph to be published by Harvard University Press on the relationship between Sharia, universally recognized principles of human rights and constitutionalism.

The Ford Foundation periodically appoints resident scholars who have distinguished themselves in fields related to its program work. Scholars pursue independent projects that contribute to their area of expertise while also serving as a resource for program staff by bringing fresh perspectives to the foundation's work.

Previous resident scholars and artists have included the former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata; South African writer and educator Njabulo Ndebele; actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith; and Sir Brian Urquhart, former U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.