Iqbal S. Akhtar is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Politics & International Relations at Florida International University, where he has taught since 2012, and Founder and Executive Director of The East-West Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Edinburgh, an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Denver, an M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Tulane University, and an A.B. in Political Science and Jewish, Islamic, & Near Eastern Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. At FIU he founded the first U.S. research center for Western Indian Ocean Studies and directed North America’s first academic Jain Studies Center. From 2021 to 2025 he served as Program Director for the Covenantal Pluralism Initiative at the Templeton Religion Trust, overseeing a $30 million global grants portfolio. A two-time Fulbright Scholar in Pakistan and Tanzania, he is the author of Covenantal Pluralism (Springer, 2026) and The Khoja of Tanzania (Brill, 2015). Following October 7, 2023, he founded Miami Interfaith to advance Muslim–Jewish dialogue. His work bridges scholarship, spirituality, and service across religious and international divides.
Dr. Akhtar is a recipient of the 2026 ISGAP Faculty Fellowship Training Program: Combatting Holocaust Distortion and Global Antisemitism.