Duke University has received a $3 million gift from alumna Bettye Martin Musham to establish a directorship for Islamic studies, President Richard H. Brodhead announced.
The gift will fund the William and Bettye Martin Musham Director for Islamic Studies, according to a news release.
The director will oversee the Duke Islamic Studies Center.
The first appointment to the position is Omid Safi, a Duke alumnus who also has an appointment in the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies.
Safi specializes in classical Islam and contemporary Islamic thought. Before coming to Duke, he was a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
