IIE's Scholar Rescue Fund Receives the 2013 Academic Freedom Award

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IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF) received the Middle East Studies Association’s (MESA) 2013 Academic Freedom Award last Friday for the program’s "efforts in support of Syrian higher education institutions and faculty in the context of the on-going civil war." In partnership with over 20 colleges, universities, and research centers in 5 countries, IIE-SRF has provided life-saving support and awarded nearly 40 fellowships to Syrian scholars whose scholarship has been threatened as a result of the crisis. Mr. Mark Angelson, Chairman of IIE's Scholar Rescue Fund commented," We have taken action in the belief that the international community has a singular chance to affect the future of the Syrian national academy and a moral imperative to do so."

In its first ten years, the IIE-SRF program provided fellowships to over 500 scholars from 50 countries, enabling beneficiaries to pursue their academic work in safety. MESA, the preeminent organization promoting scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa, bestows its Academic Freedom Award each year on an individual or organization in recognition of a particularly noteworthy contribution to the defense of academic freedom.

Thank you to all the colleges and universities around the world who have served as host institutions for IIE-SRF scholars, and congratulations to our co-winner, the Scholars at Risk Network.

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