Professor Mohammed Arkoun, a French academician of Algerian origin, is Emeritus Professor of the History of Islamic Thought at the Sorbonne (Paris III), and visiting professor at universities in the United States, Europe, and the Muslim world. Professor Arkoun's work and interests concentrate on classical Islam and contemporary issues of Islam facing modernity. He is associated with several European initiatives to rethink and reshape the relationship between Europe, Islam, and the Mediterranean world, and is the author of numerous publications, including L'Humanisme arabe au IVe/Xe siecle (1982), Pour une critique de la raison islamique (1984), Arab Thought (1988), and Rethinking Islam: Common Questions - Uncommon Answers (1993). Professor Arkoun served as a member of the Award Steering Committee from 1983 to 1992, and as a member of the 1995 Award Master Jury. He was decorated as an Officer of the French Legion of Honour in July 1996.

(Source: AKAA)