Berkley Center

Salman Ahmad is a Pakistani-American musician and activist who founded Sufi rock band Junoon. He has also spoken out to advance various causes including polio eradication, HIV/AIDS awareness, interreligious dialogue, and peace between Pakistan and India. He has been a professor at City University of New York-Queens College and UN Goodwill Ambassador.

John L. Esposito is a University Professor, professor of religion and international affairs, professor of Islamic studies, and the founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. He served as president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies; he is currently a member of the High Level Group of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations, a body of 20 international leaders that guides the alliance's work. He has written over 30 books, including Islamophobia: The Challenges of Pluralism in the 21st Century (2011, with Ibrahim Kalin), Who Speaks for Islam? (2007, with Dalia Mogahed), Islam: The Straight Path (2004), and Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (2002). Esposito received the American Academy of Religion’s 2005 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion.

Imam Yayha Hendi is the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, the first American university to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain. A consistent advocate for interfaith understanding, Hendi is the founder and president of Clergy Beyond Borders and Imams for Universe, Dignity, Human Rights and Dialogue. He holds a master's degree in comparative religions from Hartford Seminary and is currently working on his Ph.D. in comparative religion at Georgetown.

Sherman A. Jackson is the King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture and professor of religion and American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. His research interests extend from classical Islamic studies, such as law and theology, to modern conversations on race, democracy, and pluralism.

Ingrid Mattson is a scholar of Islamic studies, expert in interfaith relations, and Muslim religious leader. Since 2012 she has held the London and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies at Huron University College in London, Canada. Her work focuses on Qur’anic studies, Islamic theological ethics, and interfaith engagement.

Hadia Mubarak is an assistant professor of religious studies at Guilford College. Previously, Mubarak taught at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Davidson College. Mubarak completed her Ph.D. in Islamic studies from Georgetown University, where she specialized in modern and classical Qurʾanic exegesis, Islamic feminism, and gender reform in the modern Muslim world.