Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University

"Bridging the understanding between East and West is important for peace and tolerance..."
~ Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal

Illustrated page. Struchnos Plants (painting with text, recto), from a De Materia Medica of Dioscorides
(Arab) Baghdad?, Mesopotamia
1224
Abbasid Caliphate in Iraq, 132-656/749-1258
Opaque watercolor on paper
32.6 cm. x 25 cm., folio
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Friends of the Fogg Art Museum Fund, 1971.95.1

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal visits Harvard University

His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal attended an inaugural ceremony and reception for the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at Loeb House. The event formally recognized the prince’s generous contribution of $20 million (USD), given in 2006, to further the study of Islam in schools and departments across Harvard University. Attendees included Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, his wife Princess Ameerah, Kingdom Foundation Executive Manager Muna AbuSulayman, University Provost Steve Hyman, University Marshall Jackie O’Neil, Vice Provost for International Affairs Jorge Dominguez, Program Director Roy Mottahedeh, Harvard Divinity School Dean William Graham, and related faculty from around the university.

In recent years, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has made similar contributions to Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh in the U.K. with the intent of promoting peaceful understanding and scholarly discourse across religious and political boundaries.