A neurosurgeon donated $600,000 to help the University of Central Florida create the first endowed chair in Kurdish political studies in the United States.
The donation from Dr. Najmaldin Karim, who practices in Washington, D.C., along with matching state funds, will give the university $1.02 million, the university announced Thursday.
The position will help UCF expand its offerings related to Kurdish issues. Kurds play an important role in several countries, notably Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria, according to the university.
UCF plans an international search to select the faculty member who will hold the chair.
"The establishment of an endowed chair in Kurdish Political Studies at UCF will offer a new opportunity for the academic study of Kurdistan and the Kurds in the United States," says Karim in a prepared statement.
Karim founded and serves as president of the Washington Kurdish Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to research and education for Kurdish people worldwide. He said he hopes the endowed chair will set a trend for the growth of Kurdish studies in American universities.
"The Kurds are well-known as a stateless people who have struggled against difficult odds," says John C. Bersia, the special assistant to the president for global perspectives and co-chair of the Middle Eastern Studies Advisory Board at UCF, in a prepared statement.
The endowed chair will be part of the Department of Political Science in the College of Sciences.