Allen Fromherz (born May 10, 1980) is an American historian specializing in the Middle East and Mediterranean. From 2007 to 2008 he was a professor at

Qatar University Qatar University ( ar, جامعة قطر; transliterated: Jami'at Qatar) is a public research university located on the northern outskirts of Doha, Qatar. It is the only public university in the country. The university hosts ten colleges – Arts ...

. He joined the faculty of

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

in 2008. Since 2015, Fromherz has served as President of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS), a part of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).

Early life

Fromherz was born on May 10, 1980 in

Dallas, Oregon Dallas is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,854 at the 2020 census. Dallas is along Rickreall Creek, about west of Salem, at an elevation of above sea level. It is part of the Salem Met ...

. He wrote an undergraduate honors thesis on Ibn Khaldun under the direction of Gene Garthwaite at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2002. From 2002-2003 Fromherz was a Fulbright Scholar in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. From 2003-2006 Fromherz studied for his PhD under the supervision of Hugh Kennedy at the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

in Scotland. His doctoral dissertation is titled ''The Rise of the Almohads: Islam, Identity and Belief in North Africa''.

Academic career

In 2007, Fromherz joined the faculty of

as an assistant professor of Middle East history. In 2008, he joined the history department at

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

as a Professor of Medieval Mediterranean and Middle East History where he currently teaches and directs the Middle East Studies Center.

Publications

In addition to works on medieval North Africa and a biography of Ibn Khaldun, he published the first full-length history of modern

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

- ''Qatar, A Modern History''. In 2020 he became founding book series editor, with Matt Buehler, of Edinburgh Studies on the Maghreb. The series is dedicated to publishing works on the history, politics, and society of North Africa in English. With Abdulrahman al-Salimi, he edited a book on ''Sultan Qaboos and Modern Oman 1970-2020'' and hosted one of the first conferences dedicated to the history of Oman during the reign of

Sultan Qaboos Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

at Georgia State University in 2022.

Honors

In 2015, Fromherz became president of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS). In 2016, he was named as a senior humanities fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). In 2018, he was elected for a second term as president of AIMS and is a board member of the Council of Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). In 2022, he was named a senior Fulbright Scholar to Spain to study the life and times of the Granada polymath and historian

Ibn al-Khatib Lisan ad-Din Ibn al-Khatib ( ar, لسان الدين ابن الخطيب, Lisān ad-Dīn Ibn al-Khaṭīb) (Born 16 November 1313, Loja– died 1374, Fes; full name in ar, محمد بن عبد الله بن سعيد بن عبد الله بن � ...

Bibliography

* 2010, The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire, (IB Tauris, London) * 2010, Ibn Khaldun, Life and Times, (Edinburgh University Press) 2012, Qatar: A Modern History, (Georgetown University Press) * 2016, The Near West, Medieval North Africa, Latin Europe and the Mediterranean in the Second Axial Age, (Edinburgh University Press) * 2017, Qatar, a Modern History, Updated Edition, (Georgetown University Press) * 2018, Editor, The Gulf in World History, Arabia at the Global Crossroads, (Edinburgh University Press) * 2020, Editor, Special Section of Journal of North African Studies (JNAS), The Hafsids and the Axial Western Mediterranean *2021, Editor with Nadav Samin, Knowledge, Authority and Change in Islamic Societies, (Brill) *2022, Editor with Abdulrahman al-Salimi, Sultan Qaboos and Modern Oman 1970-2020, (Edinburgh University press)

References