Abdi Ismail Samatar (Cabdi Ismaaciil Samatar)

Who is he?

Abdi Ismail Samatar is a Somali scholar, writer and professor of geography (Wikipedia, Abdi Ismail Samatar). He taught at the University of Minnesota, where he chaired the geography department (American Association of Geographers, "Celebrating Black Geographers"). This page covers his public and academic life.

Early life and study

He was born in Gabiley in the 1950s. Wikipedia gives both 1950 and 1956 (Wikipedia). His brother is the scholar Ahmed Ismail Samatar (same source). He earned a BA at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in 1979, and a master's in planning at Iowa State in 1981 (same source). He completed a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985 (AAG).

Teaching

He lectured at the University of Iowa in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Wikipedia). He then joined the University of Minnesota (same source). He is also a research fellow at the University of Pretoria (AAG). See Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul.

Research

His work studies how democratic leadership and public institutions shape development in East and Southern Africa (AAG). He also writes on Islam, social capital and the environment in the Horn of Africa (same source). He has written four books and more than sixty articles and chapters (same source).

An African Miracle

His book An African Miracle looks at state leadership and development in Botswana (AAG). It was a finalist for the Herskovits Award in 2000 (Wikipedia).

Service

In 2003 he chaired a harmonisation committee on a Somali reconciliation charter (Wikipedia). He was President of the African Studies Association in 2013–2014 (same source). In January 2017 he was named to lead a commission overseeing the integrity of Somalia's presidential vote (same source). He often speaks on the BBC, Al Jazeera, PBS and Voice of America (same source).

In short

A professor of geography whose research covers the Somali state, African development and public institutions.