John Esposito

For other people named John Esposito, see John Esposito (disambiguation).

John Esposito
Esposito, c. 1983
Born	John Louis Esposito 1940 (1940) New York City, U.S.
Died	July 15, 2026 (aged 86) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupations	Academic, editor, writer
Spouse	Jean Esposito ​ (m. 1965)​
Academic background
Education	St Antony's College, Oxford (BA) St John's University (MA) Temple University (PhD)
Influences	Ismail al-Faruqi
Academic work
Discipline	Middle Eastern, religious, Islamic studies
Institutions	Georgetown University
Notable works	The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Islam: The Straight Path
Signature

John Louis Esposito (May 19, 1940 – July 15, 2026) was an American academic who was a professor of Middle Eastern and religious studies, as well as a scholar of Islamic studies. He served as professor of religion, international affairs, and Islamic studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Esposito was also the founding director of the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding at Georgetown.

Early life and education

Esposito was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1940. He was a Catholic and came from an Italian–American family.

Esposito gained a BA in philosophy at St Antony's College, Oxford in 1963. He gained an MA in theology at St John's University in 1966. He gained his doctorate at Temple University in 1974 with Islamic Studies as his major and comparative religions as his minor. He completed his doctoral studies under the supervision of the influential Islamic scholar Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi.

Academic career

For nearly 20 years after completing his Ph.D., Esposito taught religious studies (including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam) at the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit college in Massachusetts. At the College of the Holy Cross, he held the Loyola Professor of Middle East Studies position, was the chair of the Department of Religious Studies, and director of the College of the Holy Cross's Center for International Studies. At Georgetown University, Esposito held the position of university professor and taught as both professor of religion and international affairs and professor of Islamic studies.

Esposito published Islam and Politics in 1984, and Islam: The Straight Path in 1988. Both books sold well, going through many editions. In addition to more than 35 books, he was editor-in-chief of a number of Oxford reference works, including The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (six volumes), and Oxford Islamic Studies Online.

In 1988, he was elected president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA). He also served as president of the American Academy of Religion and president of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies. He served as vice chair of the board of directors of the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy from 1999 to 2004 he was a member of the World Economic Forum's Council of 100 Leaders, the High Level Group of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations and the E. C. European Network of Experts on De-Radicalisation. He was an advisor to the award-winning, PBS-broadcast documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet (2002), produced by Unity Productions Foundation. A recipient of the American Academy of Religion's 2005 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion and of Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam Award for Outstanding Contributions in Islamic Studies, in 2003 he received the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Award for Outstanding Teaching.

He founded the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in 1993 and was its founding director. The center received a $20 million endowment from Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal "to advance education in the fields of Islamic civilization and Muslim-Christian understanding and strengthen its presence as a world leader in facilitating cross-cultural and inter-religious dialogue."

Death

Esposito died on July 15, 2026, at the age of 86, due to complications from a heart surgery in Philadelphia. He is survived by his wife, Jean Esposito (Jeannette Paisker), whom he married in 1965.

After his death, the Council on American–Islamic Relations and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim sent condolences over his passing, with Ibrahim describing Esposito as "an influential scholar who built the intellectual foundations for a deeper understanding of Islam in the West" and emphasized his friendship with Esposito for more than 50 years. Former Turkish President Abdullah Gül stated that Esposito's introduction of Islam to the West as "beautiful and graceful".

Bibliography

Selected works as author, co-author, or editor, include titles listed below.

Editor

• The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, as editor (1994), ISBN 0-19-512559-2
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, as editor (1995, 4-volume set), ISBN 0-19-506613-8
• The Islamic World: Past and Present, as editor (2004, 3-volume set), ISBN 0-19-516520-9
• The Oxford History of Islam, as editor (2004), ISBN 0-19-510799-3
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, as editor (2009, 5-volume set), ISBN 978-0-19-530513-5

Books

• Political Islam: Radicalism, Revolution or Reform (1997), ISBN 1-55587-168-2
• The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? (3rd edition: 1999), ISBN 0-19-513076-6
• Makers of Contemporary Islam, co-authored John Voll (2001), ISBN 0-19-514128-8
• Women in Muslim Family Law, co-authored with Natana J. Delong-Bas (2nd edition: 2002) ISBN 0-8156-2908-7
• Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (2002), ISBN 0-19-515435-5
• Islam: The Straight Path (1st edition: 1988, 3rd edition: 2004), ISBN 0-19-518266-9
• The Future of Islam (2010), ISBN 0-19-516521-7
• What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam (1st edition: 2002. 2nd edition: 2011), ISBN 978-0-19-979413-3
• Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, co-authored with Dalia Mogahed (2008), ISBN 978-1-59562-017-0

Collections

This section may include written or editorial contributions to collections of works by various scholars.

• Voices of Resurgent Islam, as editor (1983), ISBN 0-19-503340-X
• Islam and Democracy, as co-editor with John Voll (1996), ISBN 0-19-510816-7
• Islam and Politics, as editor (1st edition: 1984, 4th edition: 1998), ISBN 0-8156-2774-2
• Islam, Gender and Social Change, as co-editor with Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (1997), ISBN 0-19-511357-8
• Muslims on the Americanization Path?, as co-editor with Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (2000), ISBN 0-19-513526-1
• Iran at the Crossroads, as co-editor with R. K. Ramazani (2000), ISBN 0-312-23816-9
• Modernizing Islam: Religion in the Public Sphere in the Middle East and Europe, as co-editor with Francois Burgat (2003), ISBN 0-8135-3198-5
• Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Gulen Movement, as co-editor with M. Hakan Yavuz (2003), ISBN 0-8156-3040-9
• Islam in Asia: Religion, Politics, & Society, as editor (2006), ISBN 0-19-504082-1
• Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century as co-editor with Ibrahim Kalin (2011), ISBN 978-0-19-975364-2

External links

• Media related to John Esposito at Wikimedia Commons
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• John Esposito on Charlie Rose
• John L. Esposito – The Future of Islam lecture at the University of Kentucky
• The CSID Board | Bio of John Esposito