(Archived Content)
FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
JS-1706
The U.S. Treasury today announced the appointment of Dr. Mahmoud El-Gamal to serve as the first Islamic Finance Scholar-in-Residence. Dr. El-Gamal will serve as a principal advisor on Islamic Finance to senior Treasury officials and he will liaise with international organizations that are seeking to create standards for and monitor Islamic finance. He will interact with various U.S. government agencies to provide an overview of the recent developments on formulating new and harmonizing current international regulatory standards, and have an opportunity to conduct workshops on Islamic finance, including overview of the industry, prudent supervision/regulation, accounting standards, governance practices, and debt management.
John Taylor, Under Secretary for International Affairs, said, “We are delighted that Dr. El-Gamal is joining us as the first Scholar-In-Residence on Islamic Finance. With the recent growth of the Islamic finance industry, deeper understanding of Islamic finance is priority for this Administration. I have already learned much from Dr. El-Gamal’s research, and look forward to interacting with him on important policy issues.”
The purpose of the Islamic Finance Scholar-in-Residence program is to promote broader awareness of Islamic finance practices internationally and domestically for U.S. government policymakers, regulators, and the public at large. While mainly practiced in the Middle East and Asia, the Islamic finance industry is growing in Europe and in North America. Dr. El-Gamal – with his extensive background in Islamic finance – will play a critical role in advancing the importance of promoting good practices in risk management and transparency in this area.
Dr. El-Gamal is the Chaired Professor of Islamic Economics, Finance and Management and Professor of Statistics and Economics at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He previously held teaching positions at the University of Wisconsin, California Institute of Technology, and the University of Rochester, in addition to working as an economist at the International Monetary Fund. Dr. El-Gamal received a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science and an M.A. in Economics from the American University of Cairo, an M.S. in Statistics from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University.