Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu

Who is Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu?

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu is a Turkish academic, diplomat and former Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations. He is also an eminent intellectual, author, editor of academic journals and advocate of intercultural dialogue.

Ihsanoğlu was born into a Turkish family in Cairo, Egypt. He studied science at the Ain Shams University, where he received his BSc in 1966. He remained in Cairo and obtained his MSc in 1970 from Al-Azhar University. Ihsanoğlu received his PhD from the Faculty of Science at the Ankara University in 1974. İhsanoğlu's academic work has focused on the history of scientific activity and institutions of learning within Islam, cultural exchanges between Islam and the West, the relationship between science and religion, and the development of science in its socio-cultural environment.

İhsanoğlu was the founder of the Department of History of Science at the Faculty of Letters of Istanbul University, and he remained the chairman of that department between 1984 and 2003. He was also a lecturer and a visiting professor at various universities, including Ankara University, the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, Inönü University, the University of Malatya, and Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Germany.