Ajami Photo by Kaveh Sardari

Fouad Ajami, the Majid Khadduri Professor in Middle East Studies and director of the Middle East Studies Program at SAIS, received a National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush last week at a ceremony held in the Oval Office.

Ajami, considered one of the most politically influential Arab-American intellectuals of his generation, was one of 10 men and women honored in 2006 by the National Endowment for the Humanities for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the humanities or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to important resources in the humanities." The National Humanities Medal was first awarded in 1989 as the Charles Frankel Prize.

An expert on Iran, Iraq, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, Arab-Israeli relations, OPEC and Islamic religion, culture and law, Ajami is also a contributing editor to U.S. News & World Report, a member of the editorial board of Foreign Affairs and a consultant to CBS News. His most recent book is The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs and the Iraqis in Iraq (Free Press, 2006).

GO TO NOVEMBER 13, 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
GO TO THE GAZETTE FRONT PAGE.