Isil
Acehan, Fulbright Visiting Fellow, received her B.A. in American
Culture and Literature from Ankara University (2002) and her M.A. in
American History from Bilkent University (2005). Her master’s thesis
was on the early Turkish immigration to Peabody, Massachusetts
(1900-1930). Currently, she is a research assistant and a Ph.D.
candidate at Bilkent Univeristy, Department of History. As a visiting
researcher at Harvard University (2006-2007), she is working on the New
England’s leather industry and early Ottoman (Turkish, Armenian, Greek,
and Jewish) immigrants (1900-1930) in Eastern Massachusetts including
Salem, Lynn, and Peabody. This study can be considered as the first
academic project on both the leather industry in New England cities and
the Ottoman population flow as a result of the growing leather
industry.
No bio available at this time.
Nizar
Atrissi, Fulbright Visiting Scholar, is a professor of Finance at
Université Saint-Joseph, Beirut. He is also the co-chair of the “Global
Banking Risk Management” seminar at the MBA International Paris,
affiliated with Sorbonne and Dauphine universities in France.
Previously
a fellow of the European Research Center in Finance and Management, he
was also a faculty member at Université de Paris I – Sorbonne and
Université Paris – Dauphine in France.
A Visiting Scholar at
Harvard, he is working on the factors that drive Foreign Direct
Investment, with special focus on the role of Investment Program
Agencies, as well as economic and institutional aspects. The study will
introduce empirical evidence from the Middle East and North Africa
region. In addition, he is preparing a case study for the Harvard
Business School and will be conducting a series of lectures.
His
research focus and publications are on the interaction between
strategic corporate decisions and institutional characteristics and
financial markets development. It also includes governance practices
with empirical evidence from family-owned and developing countries’
firms.
Professor Atrissi received a Ph.D. in Finance from
Université de Paris I – Sorbonne. He served as executive vice-president
and member of the board of directors of IDAL (Investment Development
Authority of Lebanon) and is a consultant to several institutions,
banks, and corporations.
Email: nizar_atrissi@harvard.edu
Ondrej
Beranek was born in Prague, Czech Republic. He graduated from the
Institute for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Charles University
with a Master's degree in Arabic language and the History and Culture
of Islamic Countries. During his studies, he traveled extensively in
many Muslim countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. In
addition, he was granted a scholarship by the Institut des langues
vivantes in Tunis, where he passed an intensive Arabic language course.
In 2003 he received a scholarship at the University of King Saud in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he underwent intensive training in Arabic
language and the history and culture of the Arab countries.
He
is currently finishing his PhD dissertation concerning the contemporary
history of Saudi Arabia (from the first Gulf War until now) - mainly
its domestic development (various forms of opposition: the islamic,
liberal, shi'a and regionalistic) and its foreign relations (especially
with the United States, local powers, and Russia). His other interests
include West African history and culture, modern Arabic literature,
mountaineering, and rock climbing.
No bio available at this time.
No bio available at this time.
Alireza
Shomali was born in Iran and earned his MSc degree from Sharif
University of Technology, Tehran. In 2000 he came to the United States
to Syracuse University, where he received an MA and PhD in Political
Philosophy and Middle Eastern (2006). His dissertation opens the
hermeneutic sphere for a dialogue between the Islamic tradition and
modernity and facilitates the fusion of these two horizons in this
space. In his post-doctoral studies, and as a continuation of his
dissertation work, he is striving to explore specifically how two
branches of modern Western philosophy have contributed to two distinct
theories of governance and statecraft in contemporary political thought
in Iran.
No bio available at this time.
No bio available at this time.
Copyright © 2007 The President and Fellows of Harvard College