New Islamic Studies Program is launched

Stanford has received $9 million to endow a new program and professorship in Islamic studies to help increase knowledge of the Muslim world, which encompasses a quarter of the planet's population.

"Despite its growing importance in the world, Islam is poorly and inadequately understood in our country," President John Hennessy said. "To serve our educational mission in the 21st century, we must expand our program in Islamic studies."

Sohaib Abbasi, a former Oracle Corp. executive and native of Pakistan, and his wife, Sara, have endowed the program in the School of Humanities and Sciences with a $2.5 million gift matched by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The $5 million core endowment will be used to support public lectures, library acquisitions, visiting scholars, language instruction and faculty and student research. According to Abbasi, establishing such a program will help foster a better understanding of Islam, Muslims and Islamic civilization. "We look forward to Stanford becoming one of the preeminent institutions for Islamic studies in North America," he said.

As the program's inaugural director, Professor Robert Gregg said that "The importance of strengthening and expanding Stanford's educational opportunities in Islamic studies is underscored by the fact that Islam is reported to be second largest religion in the world and one of the world's fastest growing faiths."

Read more about the program's inauguration in Stanford Report and Stanford Daily. The inaugural lecture is covered in a separate Stanford Daily article.