BINGHAMTON, NY – Binghamton University will celebrate the life of former professor and world-renowned intellectual Mwalimu Ali A. Mazrui from 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, in Casadesus Music Hall, in the Fine Arts Building, on campus. A reception will follow from 5-7 p.m. in the Grand Corridor, both of which are free and open to the public.

Speakers at the event will include John Esposito, director of Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding; Toyin Falola, Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History at the University of Texas at Austin; and Ousseina Alidou, professor of African politics at Rutgers University. Members of Mazrui’s family will also be on hand for remarks.

Mazrui, Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies, died Sunday, Oct. 12. Recognized as one of the world’s top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy magazine and the British journal Prospect in 2005, Mazrui was also named one of the world’s top 500 most influential Muslims in 2012 and 2013.  He was sought after as an advisor and leader. He had advised the World Bank and served as president of the African Studies Association of the United States and vice president of the International Congress of African Studies.

Author of more than 30 books, Mazrui also published a novel, wrote for magazines and newspapers, and had his most influential articles republished by Africa World Press in three volumes. He was also known for the 1986 BBC/PBS series "The Africans: A Triple Heritage." He was awarded numerous honorary degrees in disciplines ranging from divinity to science to human development, and from humane letters to political economy.

For more information, contact Ricardo Laremont, professor of political science and sociology, at laremont@binghamton.edu.