Forum Agenda and Participant Biographies - Brookings Institution

adio and television. Prior to joining CFR, Cook was
a Research Fellow at Brookings (2001–2002) and a
Soref Research Fellow at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy (1995–96). Cook holds a B.A.
in International Studies from Vassar College, an M.A.
in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins
School of Advanced International Studies, and both
an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University
of Pennsylvania.
ahmad dallal
LeBanOn
Ahmad Dallal is Provost of the
American University of Beirut.
Previously, he was an Associate
Professor of Arabic and Islamic
Studies, and Chair of the Arabic
and Islamic Studies Department
at Georgetown University. He taught at Stanford
University, Yale University, and Smith College. His
academic training and research cover the history of
the disciplines of learning in Muslim societies, including
both the exact and the traditional sciences,
as well as early-modern and modern Islamic thought
and movements. Ahmad Dallal is currently finishing a
book-length comparative study of eighteenth-century
Islamic reform entitled Islam without Europe: Traditions
of Reform in Eighteenth Century Islamic Thought.
He has also written essays and delivered numerous
lectures on the background and aftermath of the September
11 attacks. He earned his Ph.D. in Islamic
Studies from Columbia University and his B.E. in
Mechanical Engineering from the American University
of Beirut.
Suheil Salman dawani
paLeStInIan
Suheil Salman Dawani is the
fourteenth Anglican Bishop in
Jerusalem and the Bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem,
where he oversees twenty-seven
parishes and thirty priests. He is
the Chairman for over thirty educational and health
care institutions of the Diocese in Israel, Palestine,
Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, and represents the Anglican
Church in regional, ecumenical, and interfaith
networks. Bishop Dawani obtained an Associate Degree
in Arts in 1973 from Bir Zeit University and
graduated from the Near East School of Theology in
2011 U.S.-ISLAMIC WORLD FORUM
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Beirut in 1975 with the degree of Bachelor of Theology.
He received his master’s degree in Theological
Studies from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria,
Virginia in 1987, and in October, 2006, he
was awarded the degree of Doctor in Divinity from
Virginia Theological Seminary.
Vishakha desai
UnIted StateS
Vishakha Desai is the President
and Chief Executive Officer of
Asia Society, a leading global organization
committed to strengthening
partnerships among the
people, leaders, and institutions
of Asia and the United States. Prior to assuming her
current position as President, Dr. Desai held several
positions at Asia Society, as Director of its Museum,
Vice President for the Arts and Cultural Programs,
and Senior Vice President of the Society. Before joining
Asia Society in 1990, Desai was a curator at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the head of Public
Programs and Academic Affairs. She has also taught
at the University of Massachusetts, Boston University,
Columbia University, and Williams College.
Desai serves on the boards of Brookings, Citizens
Committee for New York City, Asian University for
Women, and the New York City Mayor’s Advisory
Commission for Cultural Affairs. She holds a B.A.
in Political Science from Bombay University and an
M.A. and Ph.D. in Asian Art History from the University
of Michigan.
Richard dickerson
UnIted StateS
Richard Dickerson is the Senior
Director for Strategic Communications
at the U.S. Agency for
International Development in
Kandahar, Afghanistan. Prior to
accepting this assignment, Dickerson
held a wide range of positions both in government
and the private sector. In addition to operating his
own consulting company, Dickerson worked in senior
positions at large engineering firms and energy companies,
as well as the U.S. Department of Energy and
the Environmental Protection Agency. He also served
as a senior official with an NGO in Eastern Europe
and as a senior organizer for the Olympic Committee.
Dickerson is a veteran of the United States Army and