Abdi Ismail Samatar

Samatar was born in 1956 in Gabiley in Somaliland. He is the brother of scholar and politician Ahmed Ismail Samatar.^[1]

For his tertiary education, Samatar earned an A.B. from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in 1979. He later obtained a MCRP in Urban/Regional Planning from the Iowa State University in 1981. In 1985, he completed a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.^[2]

Samatar is Muslim.^[3]

Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Samatar was a lecturer at the University of Iowa.^[2] He later joined the University of Minnesota's faculty, serving as a professor of geography and chair of the institution's geography department.^[4]

He has authored several books centered on democracy and development in the Horn of Africa and the developing world.^[2] In 2000, his non-fiction work An African Miracle was a finalist for the year's Herskovits Prize.^[5]

In Spring 2003, Samatar was the Chair of the Harmonization Committee of the Somali Charter: Somali Reconciliation – Independent Committee.^[2]

In 2013–2014, he also served as the President of the African Studies Association. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest or contributor at various international media outlets, including Voice of America, PBS, Al Jazeera, the BBC, Radio France International, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, TV Channel 5 and Somali TV Minneapolis.^[2]

On January 30 he was appointed to leader of the election commission to oversee the integrity of the Somalia presidential elections that were held 8 February 2017.^[6]

Samatar has received various awards for his work, including:^[2]

• University of Minnesota President's Award for Service, 2018
• University of Minnesota Somali Student Association Award, 2017
• University of Minnesota Outstanding Community Service Award, 2004
• Finalist, Herskovits Award of the African Studies Association for An African Miracle, 2000
• Fulbright Scholar Award, 1993/4 and 1999
• Design Achievement Award in recognition for substantial contribution to the field of Community and Regional Planning, Iowa State University, October 20, 2000
• Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Teaching and Leadership in Community-University Collaboration, University of Minnesota, 1997
• Collegiate Teaching Award, University of Iowa, 1989–90

Samatar's professional memberships include:^[2]

• Editorial Board, African Geographic Review Journal
• Editorial Board, Bildan: Somali Studies Journal
• Member, board of directors of African Studies Association, 2002–2004
• President of African Studies Association, 2013–2014
• Committee member, MacArthur Compton Fellowships
• Graduate Education Policy

• Africa’s First Democrats: Somalia’s Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen. Abdi Ismail Samatar, 2016
• The African State: Reconsideration. Samatar, Abdi, Ahmed Samatar, Co-Editor, 2002.
• An African Miracle: State and Class Leadership and Colonial Legacy in Botswana. Samatar, Abdi, Heinemann, 1999.
• "The Dialectics of Piracy in Somalia: the Poor versus the Rich". Samatar, Abdi, Third World Quarterly, December 2010.
• "Faithless Power as Fraticide: Is there an Alternative in Somalia?" Samatar, Abdi, International Journal of Somali Studies, 9 63–81, 2009.
• "Back to the Future". Samatar, Abdi, BBC Focus on Africa Magazine, July–September 34–5, 2008.
• "Debating Somali Identity in a British Tribunal". The BBC Somali Service. Samatar, Abdi, Author, 2007.
• "The Islamic Courts and the Mogadishu Miracle: What comes Next for Somalia". Samatar, Abdi, Review of African political Economy, Fall 2006.
• "The Ethiopian Election of 2005: A Bombshell & Turning Point". Samatar, Abdi, Review of African Political Economy, 104/5, 2005.
• Ethiopian Federalism: Autonomy versus Control in the Somali Region. Samatar, Abdi, Author, 2004.
• Editorial of Somali Reconciliation. Samatar, Abdi, Ahmed Samatar, 2003.
• Somalis as Africa's First Democrats. Samatar, Abdi, Ahmed Samatar, 2002.
• Local Initiatives and Somali Reconstruction. Samatar, Abdi, 2001.
• Social Transformation and Islamic Reinterpretation in Northern Somalia: The Women's Mosque in Gabiley. Samatar, Abdi, 2000.
• Ethnicity and leadership in the making of African state models: Botswana versus Somalia. Samatar, Abdi, 1997.