April 6, 2016

Islamic scholar to speak at SVSU for Akbar Lecture

Saginaw Valley State University will host speaker Ingrid Mattson for a presentation, “Qur'an: Text, Context, and Tradition” Thursday, April 14‌ at 6:30 p.m. in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall. She is visiting for SVSU’s Dr. Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture series; the talk is free and open to the public.

A scholar of Islamic studies, Mattson is an expert in interfaith relations and a Muslim religious leader. Since 2012, she has held the London and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies at Huron University College in London, Ontario.

Mattson's writings focus on Qur'anic studies, theological ethics, and interfaith engagement. Her book, “The Story of the Qur'an,” is an academic bestseller and was chosen by the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities for national distribution.

Mattson was elected as vice-president, then as president, of the Islamic Society of North America, and is a senior fellow of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman, Jordan. She has served on many boards, including the Interfaith Taskforce of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the Council of Global Leaders of the C-100 of the World Economic Forum, and the Leadership Group of the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project.

Educated in Canada and the U.S., Mattson completed a bachelor’s degree at the University of Waterloo and a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.

The Dr. Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture Series on Islam and Culture at SVSU was established by Dr. Waheed Akbar, a Saginaw-based orthopedic surgeon, and the couple's children, Akbar, Zainab, and Ahmed, in memory of their wife and mother, who passed away in 2009.  Raana served on the SVSU Board of Control; Waheed currently serves on SVSU's Board of Fellows, a community advisory board.