Celebrating Our Honorees
2018 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient
Imam Yahya M. Hendi
Chaplain, Director for Muslim Life
Georgetown University
Imam Yahya M. Hendi is the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, the first American university to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain. He is a member of the Public Policy Conflict Resolution Fellows Program of the Center for Dispute Resolution of the University of Maryland School of Law and the Maryland Judiciary’s Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office. Imam Hendi is the founder and president of Clergy Beyond Borders.
He is a member of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of North America. He has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Johns Hopkins University, Fordham University, and Hartford Seminary.
A sought-after speaker, Imam Hendi has presented a multitude of interfaith and general lectures in the United States, Asia, Africa, Europe, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. He has given talks in more than 63 countries and 45 U.S. states.
Imam Hendi has appeared on many national and international television and radio shows as an expert on interfaith dialogue and on Islam and Muslims (e.g., CNN, ABC, Fox, Kuwait TV, Nile TV, Channel-II Radio Pakistan Karachi, RAI, MSNBC, and Al Jazeera).
In 2012, Imam Hendi earned distinction as one of the world’s 500 most influential Muslims for his work as an interfaith dialogue activist and trainer. He also received many awards for his work to promote harmony and respectful diversity.
His undergraduate and graduate education was in Islamic studies and comparative religions with interest in inter-religious dialogue and relations.
He lives in Virginia with his wife and five children.
May 18, 2018, Montgomery College 71st Commencement. © Copyright 2018 Montgomery College. All rights reserved.