UT Islamic studies chair to be named for imam

11/3/2001

The chair of Islamic studies at the University of Toledo will be named in honor of the late Imam Abdelmoneim Mahmoud Khattab, who led the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo from 1980-1998.

Dr. Saleh A. Jabarin, chairman of the steering committee working to establish the chair, will make the announcement at a fund-raising luncheon at 11 a.m. tomorrow in UT's Student Union Room 2592.

“It will be called the Imam Khattab Endowed Chair for Islamic Studies in recognition of Imam Khattab, who served the Muslim community for so many years and was always a supporter of education and better understanding,” Dr. Jabarin said.

About $300,000 has been raised for the chair, which previously did not have a name. Imam Khattab died of cancer Sept 15 at age 69. An endowment of $1 million is required to hire a full-time professor or $500,000 for a part-time professor.

In September, philanthropists Thomas Murray and Lura Lovell, whose contributions helped establish the chair of Catholic studies at UT, donated $10,000 to the Islamic chair in a gesture that they hoped would raise awareness and funds for the endowment.