Akram Khater

Dr. Akram Khater is a Professor of History and holds the Khayrallah Chair in Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University, where he also directs the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies. A native of Lebanon (born 1960), he earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, followed by M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Berkeley, respectively.

His expertise spans Middle East Studies, migration and diaspora, gender, nationalism, religious history, and digital humanities. He has authored influential books like Inventing Home: Emigration, Gender and the Making of a Lebanese Middle Class and edited the International Journal of Middle East Studies. His research often bridges academic scholarship with public engagement, including a PBS documentary on Lebanese communities in North Carolina and major museum exhibitions like The Lebanese in America.

Khater has received notable accolades for teaching and research, including awards from NC State and fellowships from the National Humanities Center and Fulbright Foundation. His work critically examines how migration reshapes identity, and how religious and cultural practices evolve in diasporic contexts.

• Education:
• B.S., Electrical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University
• M.A., History, UC Santa Cruz
• Ph.D., History, UC Berkeley
• Key Roles:
• Director, Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
• Editor, International Journal of Middle East Studies
• Grants & Fellowships:
• National Humanities Center Fellowship (20XX)
• American Philosophical Society Grant (20XX)
• Council of American Overseas Research Centers Award
• Public Engagement:
• Over 300 public lectures on Middle Eastern history
• Curator of widely toured exhibitions