Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program and professorships established
Islamic studies today 2006
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program and Professorships Established
In 2005, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud pledged a $20 million gift to Harvard University for the establishment of a university-wide Islamic studies program that would be interdisciplinary and global. “I am pleased to support Islamic studies at Harvard and I hope that this program will enable generations of students and scholars to gain a thorough understanding of Islam and its role both in the past and in today’s world,” Prince Alwaleed said. The gift also gave Harvard the funds to endow professorships in Islamic studies, support graduate students, and to digitize Islamic manuscripts. Roy Mottahedeh, Gurney Professor of History, served as the Program’s founding director and committed to expanding Islamic studies at Harvard to better reflect the geographical spread of Muslim cultures.