Dear friends and colleagues,

The IIS today welcomes a new Director. Dr Zayn Kassam joins the Institute from Pomona College, a premier liberal arts college outside Los Angeles, California, where she was Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and served as the John Knox McLean Professor of Religious Studies.  

Dr Kassam replaces Dr Farhad Daftary, who served for 12 years as Co-Director, and who steps away to become Director Emeritus and serve on the Board of Governors. Dr Kassam is a highly accomplished scholar of Islamic and Ismaili philosophy and Islamic mysticism and spent a year at the IIS in 1998 as a research fellow, teaching a course on gender here.

On behalf of the Institute, may we also take this opportunity to also wish you all a very happy new year.