2012 STARS Hall of Fame

Farid Senzai

Policy Scholar & Professor of Political Science, Santa Clara University
San Juan High School

Dr. Farid Senzai, a San Juan alum, is a respected authority on U.S.–Middle East policy, political Islam, and the Muslim American experience. He holds an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Oxford.

He serves as Associate Professor of Political Science at Santa Clara University, teaching courses on U.S. foreign policy, Middle East politics, political Islam, and American Muslims.

Previously, Dr. Senzai was a Fellow and Director of Research at ISPU, a Brookings Institution researcher, and a Council on Foreign Relations analyst. He co-edited Educating the Muslims of America (Oxford, 2009), co-authored Political Islam in the Age of Democratization (2013), and has published widely on Muslim communities and politics.

He contributes his expertise to policy conversations as an advisor to the Pew Research Center on Religion & Public Life and as a board member of the Central Asia Institute. Dr. Senzai is also the Founder & President of Afghan Relief, spearheading humanitarian efforts for vulnerable Afghan populations.

Active in public discourse, he’s featured in outlets like the New York Times and Sacramento Bee, and is a contributor to Middle East Eye.