Forum Agenda and Participant Biographies - Brookings Institution

akram al-Turk
UnIted StateS
Akram Al-Turk is Senior Research
Assistant and Publications Coordinator
at the Project on U.S. Relations
with the Islamic World at
Brookings. Previously, he worked
at the Palestinian Hydrology
Group in Ramallah, where he examined water policy
issues in the West Bank. In the summer of 2008, he
was a Research Fellow at FINCA Jordan, a microfinance
institution. Al-Turk currently volunteers with
Al-Mubadarah: the Arab Empowerment Initiative.
He has a master’s of Global Policy Studies from the
University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Chemistry
from Millsaps College.
Emad al-Turk
UnIted StateS
Emad Al-Turk is the Co-Founder
and Chairman of the Board of the
International Museum of Muslim
Cultures (IMMC), the first and
only Islamic history and culture
museum in the United States. In
this role, Al-Turk has engaged with interfaith, business,
government, and nonprofit communities across
the country. IMMC, through a major grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities, recently
co-hosted a conference entitled “Islamic West Africa’s
Legacy of Literacy and Music to America and the
World,” which builds on the museum’s Legacy of Timbuktu:
Wonders of the Written Word international exhibition
program. Al-Turk has been a board member of
the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference, the
Mississippi Center for Non-Profits, and the William
Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation. He holds
a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University
of Mississippi and Mississippi State University,
respectively, and an M.B.A. from Millsaps College.
Shahed amanullah
UnIted StateS
Shahed Amanullah is the Senior
Advisor for Technology for
the U.S. Department of State,
working on digital diplomacy
projects in the Office of the Special
Representative to Muslim
2011 U.S.-ISLAMIC WORLD FORUM
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Communities Worldwide, which reports directly to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Before joining the
State Department, Amanullah founded Halalfire, a
company that produces compelling online content
for and market research on global Muslim communities.
Signature properties include altmuslim.com
(founded 2001), a leading online newsmagazine focusing
on Muslim issues, and zabihah.com (founded
1998), the world’s largest guide to Halal restaurants
and markets. Together with other properties, Halalfire
serves over twelve million unique users per year
through the web and mobile devices/apps. Amanullah
was named twice (2009 and 2010) as one of the 500
most influential Muslims in the world by Georgetown
University, as well as one of the top ten most visionary
young Muslims by Islamica Magazine (2007).
Salahuddin M.
aminuzzaman
BanGLadeSh
Salahuddin M. Aminuzzaman is
Professor of Public Administration
and former Professor and
Chairman of the Department
of Development Studies, University
of Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he has taught
for 32 years. Dr. Aminuzzaman was a Senior Fulbright
Scholar from 1995-96 and has been a Visiting
Professor at Dar es Salaam University, Tanzania;
Tempere University, Finland; and Bergen University,
Norway. Professor Aminuzzaman’s areas of academic
and research interests include public policy studies,
local governance and politics, and development
studies. He has published seven books and over forty
research papers. Professor Aminuzzaman has his
master’s degree in Public Administration from the
University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and a doctorate in
Public Administration from the University of the
Philippines.
hady amr
UnIted StateS
Hady Amr was sworn in as Deputy
Assistant Administrator for the
Middle East at the U.S. Agency
for International Development
in October 2010. Previously, he
served as the Founding Director
of the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar, and a Fel-