Akbar Ahmed
Dr. Akbar Ahmed (Ph.D., University of London) has been described by the BBC as "probably the world's best-known scholar on contemporary Islam." He is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, DC, and has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Cambridge, and Princeton. His publications include Islam Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post-Honor World (Polity Press, 2003). A native of Pakistan, he has served in several government posts, among them High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain. He is a columnist for Religion News Service, and has made numerous media appearances, including NBC Nightly News, BBC News, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.