{{Short description|Somali scholar, writer and professor (born 1950)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox writer | name = Abdi Ismail Samatar | native_name = عبدي إسماعيل سمتر | image =Professor Abdi Samatar.png | caption =Professor Abdi Samatar at lecture | birth_name = | birth_date = 1952 | birth_place = Gabiley, British Somaliland (now Somalia) | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = scholar, writer, professor | citizenship = Somali, American | alma_mater = University of Wisconsin–La Crosse<br>Iowa State University<br>University of California, Berkeley | subject = geography, democracy, development | spouse = | relatives = Ahmed Ismail Samatar | awards = Outstanding Community Service Award (2004)<br>Design Achievement Award (2000)<br>Collegiate Teaching Award (1989–90) }} '''Abdi Ismail Samatar''' ({{langx|so|Cabdi Ismaaciil Samatar}}, {{langx|ar|عبدي إسماعيل ساماتار}}) (born 1950) is a Somali scholar, writer and professor of geography.
==Personal life== Samatar was born in 1956 in Gabiley in Somalia. He is the brother of scholar and politician Ahmed Ismail Samatar.<ref>{{cite news|title=Maxaa ka Taqaanaa Xubnaha Lagu Sheegay Qaswadayaasha Siyaasadda Soomaaliya iyo Qabiilada ay kasoo jeedaan|url=http://www.xariiradnews.com/2012/08/maxaa-ka-taqaanaa-xubnaha-lagu-sheegay-qaswadayaasha-siyaasadda-soomaaliya-iyo-qabiilada-ay-kasoo-jeedaan/|accessdate=April 16, 2015|agency=Xariiradnews|date=August 21, 2012|archive-date=April 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416220629/http://www.xariiradnews.com/2012/08/maxaa-ka-taqaanaa-xubnaha-lagu-sheegay-qaswadayaasha-siyaasadda-soomaaliya-iyo-qabiilada-ay-kasoo-jeedaan/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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.<ref name="Uomais">{{cite web|title=Abdi Ismail Samatar|url=http://www.geog.umn.edu/people/profile.php?UID=samat001|publisher=University of Minnesota|accessdate=April 16, 2015}}</ref>
Samatar is Muslim.<ref name="Prpomitus">{{cite news|last=Zamir|first=Javed|title=Pervasive racial profiling of Muslims in the US|url=http://www.crescent-online.net/2009/09/pervasive-racial-profiling-of-muslims-in-the-us-javed-zamir-1750-articles.html|accessdate=April 16, 2015|newspaper=Crescent International}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=January 2025}}
==Career== Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Samatar was a lecturer at the University of Iowa.<ref name="Uomais"/> He later joined the University of Minnesota's faculty, serving as a professor of geography and chair of the institution's geography department.<ref>"Abdi Samatar : Geography : University of Minnesota." Department of Geography : University of Minnesota. University of Minnesota, September 4, 2009. Web. May 27, 2010. http://www.geog.umn.edu/people/profile.php?UID=samat001.</ref>
He has authored several books centered on democracy and development in the Africa.<ref name="Uomais"/> In 2000, his non-fiction work ''An African Miracle'' was a finalist for the year's Herskovits Prize.<ref name="Mcb">{{cite book|title=Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, Volumes 1–2|date=2001|publisher=Macalester College, International Studies and Programming|page=iii}}</ref>
In Spring 2003, Samatar was the Chair of the Harmonization Committee of the Somali Charter: Somali Reconciliation – Independent Committee.<ref name="Uomais"/>
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.<ref name="Uomais"/>
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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.radiodalsan.com/en/2017/01/30/9-prominent-figures-appointed-to-the-election-integrity-commission/|title=9 prominent figures appointed to the election integrity commission|work=Radio Dalsan|access-date=2017-06-10|language=en-US}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=January 2025}}
==Awards== Samatar has received various awards for his work, including:<ref name="Uomais"/> *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
==Professional memberships== Samatar's professional memberships include:<ref name="Uomais"/> *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
==Selected works== * Framing Somalia: Beyond Africa's Merchants of Misery" Abdi Simalia Samatar, 2022. *''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.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Samatar, Abdi Ismail}} Category:American foreign policy writers Category:Somalian non-fiction writers Category:Somalists Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Foreign policy writers Category:Somalian educators Category:Somalian historians Category:21st-century American geographers Category:American people of Somali descent Category:University of Minnesota faculty Category:University of Wisconsin–La Crosse alumni Category:Iowa State University alumni Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:20th-century Somalian writers Category:21st-century Somalian people Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American male writers Category:20th-century geographers Category:21st-century geographers Category:20th-century American educators Category:21st-century American educators Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:People from Maroodi Jeex Category:Gadabuursi Category:Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences