Mervat Hatem

Mervat Hatem’s life has been profoundly shaped by education, which her parents taught her to value, and which she is committed to providing to future generations of women. A professor emerita at Howard University in Washington, D.C., she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from AUC, followed by a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she specialized in political economy, comparative politics and international relations.

Over the course of a distinguished academic career, Hatem became a trailblazer in the study of gender in the Middle East, writing extensively on gender, state-building and political development. She has published many journal articles and book chapters persuasively arguing that gender roles and relations shape challenges such as security, development and democratization. Her book Literature, Gender and Nation-Building in Nineteenth-Century Egypt: The Life and Works of ‘A’isha Taymur (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) reflects this ongoing interest in the intersection of gender and national politics.

Reflecting on her personal history, Hatem fondly remembers her mother’s dedication to education. “My family is from Cairo, but my mother spent a good portion of her childhood in Minya, Upper Egypt. To finish her high school education, my mother had to travel to Helwan School for Girls in Cairo, a mecca for girls from regions of Egypt without a proper high school.” An advocate for education herself, Hatem’s mother became a nurse — one of the few professions open to young women in the early 20th century — and later earned a degree in social work. Her father, whose own career was in administration, also valued education, funding not only his children’s education but also his nieces’.

Hatem’s educational journey began at the American College for Girls. She enrolled at AUC in 1967, a turbulent period marked by strained U.S.-Egypt relations and the government’s sequestration of the University. In spite of these challenges, Hatem recalls, “I received an excellent education at AUC. That education mixed classroom and outside class experiences with a rewarding social life that allowed me to adjust to co-education at my own pace. That education is also the reason I later chose to pursue a PhD in political science at the University of Michigan.”

Hatem went on to teach at Howard University, where her research was deeply informed by the critical perspectives offered by African Americans on the micro and macro dynamics of their subordination — insights she found applicable to other groups, including Arabs, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans; this exposure contributed a distinct dimension to her work and further distinguished her scholarship. In recognition of the quality of that scholarship, she was elected president of the Middle East Studies Association in 2007 (for a two-year term) and awarded AUC’s Distinguished Alumna Award in 2008.

Hatem’s generous legacy gift to AUC, which will come from her retirement plan following her passing, will establish an endowed fellowship fund supporting female students from Upper Egypt who are pursuing studies in political science, sociology or gender issues — fields central to her scholarship. “Through this fellowship, I am acknowledging the life journeys of my parents, who valued education so greatly. Like them, I have supported the education of some of the members of my family; I would now like to support the education of AUC students.”

Hatem credits AUC with playing a significant role in her life. “AUC has shaped my development, and this fellowship is one of my contributions to the world as a good citizen. I am a woman of a certain age; I like to think that I could make a small difference in some of the issues that have shaped my life and development. In aiding future generations of students, I take joy in continuing the wonderful legacy of my parents.”