Abdi Ismail Samatar | |
|---|---|
 Professor Abdi Samatar at lecture | |
| Native name | عبدي إسماعيل سمتر |
| Born | 1952 Gabiley, British Somaliland (now Somaliland) |
| Occupation | scholar, writer, professor |
| Citizenship | Somali, American |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–La Crosse Iowa State University University of California, Berkeley |
| Subject | geography, democracy, development |
| Notable awards | Outstanding Community Service Award (2004) Design Achievement Award (2000) Collegiate Teaching Award (1989–90) |
| Spouse | Cawo Mohamed Abdi |
| Relatives | Ahmed Ismail Samatar |
Abdi Ismail Samatar (Somali: Cabdi Ismaaciil Samatar, Arabic: عبدي إسماعيل ساماتار) (born 1950) is a Somali scholar, writer and professor of geography.
Samatar was born in 1956 in Gabiley in Somaliland. He is the brother of scholar and politician Ahmed Ismail Samatar.[1]
For his tertiary education, Samatar earned an A.B. from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in 1979. He later obtained a MCRP in Urban/Regional Planning from the Iowa State University in 1981. In 1985, he completed a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.[2]
Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Samatar was a lecturer at the University of Iowa.[2] He later joined the University of Minnesota's faculty, serving as a professor of geography and chair of the institution's geography department.[4]
He has authored several books centered on democracy and development in the Horn of Africa and the developing world.[2] In 2000, his non-fiction work An African Miracle was a finalist for the year's Herskovits Prize.[5]
In Spring 2003, Samatar was the Chair of the Harmonization Committee of the Somali Charter: Somali Reconciliation – Independent Committee.[2]
In 2013–2014, he also served as the President of the African Studies Association. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest or contributor at various international media outlets, including Voice of America, PBS, Al Jazeera, the BBC, Radio France International, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, TV Channel 5 and Somali TV Minneapolis.[2]
On January 30 he was appointed to leader of the election commission to oversee the integrity of the Somalia presidential elections that were held 8 February 2017.[6]
Samatar has received various awards for his work, including:[2]
Samatar's professional memberships include:[2]
