| 1 | Name: | Dr. William A. Graham | |
| Institution: | Harvard University | ||
| Year Elected: | 2018 | ||
| Class: | 4. Humanities | ||
| Subdivision: | 405. History and Philology, East and West, through the 17th Century | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1943 | ||
William A. Graham is Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and University Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University. His scholarship focuses on early Islamic religious history and texts and comparative studies in the history of religion; his most recent work involves Qur'anic studies. Raised in Chapel Hill NC and a 1966 summa graduate of the University of North Carolina in European history and comparative literature (German, French, Classics), he also studied German literature in Göttingen (1964-5). Supported by Woodrow Wilson and Danforth fellowships (1966-73), he earned his PhD at Harvard in the history of religion, specializing in Islamic studies with secondary work in Sanskrit and Indian studies. In 1967-8 he studied Arabic at Britain's Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies in Lebanon and in 1971-2 pursued thesis research in London and Tübingen. A member of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Study of Religion) since 1973, he has chaired several academic units, directed the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (1990-6), and served as master of Currier House (1991-2003). In 2002 he also joined the Harvard Divinity School to serve as its dean (2002-12). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and past chair of the Council on Graduate Studies in Religion. Honors include Phi Beta Kappa; John Simon Guggenheim and Alexander von Humboldt fellowships (India and Germany, 1982-3); the 2000 Excellence in Research in Islamic History and Culture quinquennial award from the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (Istanbul); honorary doctorates from UNC-CH (2004) and Lehigh (2006); the 2012 Lifetime Achievement award of The Journal of Law and Religion. His Divine Word and Prophetic Word in Early Islam (1977) shared the ACLS History of Religions Prize in 1978. He is also author of Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion (1987) and Islamic and Comparative Religious Studies (2010); a co-author of Three Faiths, One God (2002) and The Heritage of World Civilizations (1986ff.; 10th ed., 2016); an associate editor of The Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an (1995- ); and co-editor of Islamfiche: Readings from Islamic Primary Sources (1983-7). A longtime mountaineer, elected to the American Alpine Club in 1981, he was faculty adviser to the Harvard Mountaineering Club for forty years. He is married to Dr. Barbara S. Graham; they have one son, Dr. Powell L. Graham, M.D. | |||