Awan, M. M. Mahmud

(Director, Global Studies Institute, Charlton, Massachusetts) A specialist in Islamic Law of Finance, Mahmud Awan received his LLM degree from Boston University Law School after receiving his LLB degree in Islamic Jurisprudence from Punjab University in Pakistan. He received his Ph.D. in International Economics and Finance from Clark University in 1976. He has been a Distinguished Professor of Islamic Finance at INCEIF Global University in Islamic Finance, located in Malaysia, where he also served as the Founding Dean of the Faculty and Chief Academic Officer from 2006 to 2008. He was the Chairman of the Global Forum on Islamic Finance held in 2007 and 2008 in Kuala Lumpur that was attended by leading Islamic bankers, takaful operators, Nobel Laureates, and Heads of State. He is presently the Shari‘a Advisor at Hong Leong Mitsui Sumitomo Takaful and Hong Leong Islamic Bank among other financial institutions. He serves on the board of several organizations in the United States and abroad. He was President/CEO of Regional Technology Corporation, Springfield, Massachusetts from 2004 to 2005. Prior to that, he was Chairman of the Board at Technical Communications Corporation, a NASDAQ listed public company based in Concord, Massachusetts from 1998 to 2002. He has been the key investor at several high technology companies in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. He was the Founder of Oman Fiber Optic Company SAOG, where he served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. He has been the President of New England Fiber Optic Council, and Chairman of the Board of Governors at Western Massachusetts International Trade Association. In addition to being the author of numerous books and articles in the field of Islamic Finance and Economic Development, he was a Professor of International Finance at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. He served as Professor Emeritus at National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan from 2004 to 2008 and was a Presidential Advisor to Government of Pakistan. He has been a frequent contributor to Harvard IFP Forums in the past and served as Chairman of the Emerging Academic Research Session at the Eighth IFP Forum on Islamic Finance.