2017 -Prof. Tadamitsu Kishimoto-

Professor Tadamitsu Kishimoto

by Medicine


Tadamitsu Kishimoto graduated from Osaka University Medical School in 1964, and completed a one-year internship at Osaka University Hospital, and obtained his Ph.D. in medicine in 1969. Between 1970 and 1974, he pursued post-doctoral research in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School, working under Professor Kimishige Ishizaka, the discoverer of IgE. He returned to Osaka University Medical School in 1974 as an assistant professor of medicine and progressed rapidly through his academic and research career becoming a full professor in 1979. He served as the dean and chairman of the Department of Medicine at Osaka University and was the university’s president from 1997-2003, and a Member of the Council for Science and Technology Policy from 2004 to 2006. Currently, he is a professor of Immunology at the Immunology Frontier Research Center in Osaka University.

Professor Kishimoto has made seminal contributions to our understanding of cytokine functions in general and interleukin-6 IL-6 in particular. He discovered and cloned IL-6, elucidated its functions, its signaling pathway, receptor system, and transcription factors. He then continued developing a humanized anti-IL 6 receptor antibody therapy ACTEMRA, Tocilizumab that has proven to be highly successful in the treatment of several immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, Castleman’s disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and other autoimmune inflammatory disorders. Kishimoto’s work has been of paramount importance in the field of pro-inflammatory cytokines and has established paradigms for the study of cytokine biology. His studies on IL-6, which spanned around thirty years, have been highly regarded, ranking him among the world’s most cited researchers. He has published around 620 papers and nearly 140 review articles.

Professor Kishimoto has received numerous prestigious awards and honors, including the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy in 1992, the Sandoz Prize for Immunology of the International Union of Immunological Society in 1992, the Avery-Landsteiner Prize of the German Immunology in 1996, ISI Citation Laureate Award in 2000, an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Universidad Tecnologica de Santiago, UTESA, in 2001, an Honorary Professorship at the Fourth Military Medical College, Xian, China in 2002, an Honorary Doctor of Science from Mahidol University in 2003, Robert Koch Gold Medal in 2003, a Distinguished Professorship of Medicine and Immunology, University California, Davis in 2004, an Honorary LifeTime Achievements Award from the International Cytokine Society in 2006, the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2009, and the Japan Prize in 2011. He was awarded the Order of Culture from the Emperor of Japan in 1998 and Royal Decoration from the Kingdom of Thailand in 2012. He was also elected as a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences 1991, a Member of the Japan Academy in 1995, and a Member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina in 2005.

In addition, he was elected President of the International Immunopharmacology Society, the International Cytokine Society, and the Japanese Society for Immunology. He is also an Honorary Member of the American Association of Immunologists and the American Society of Hematology. He is involved in several professional activities including being a former President of the 14th International Congress for the Society of Immunology. He is also an editor and a member of the editorial board of several international journals in his fields of specialization and selection committee member for a number of international prizes.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2017 -مجمع اللغة العربية الأردني

Arabic Language Academy of Jordan

by Arabic Language and Literature

The establishment of an Arabic Language Academy in Jordan was envisaged as early as the 1960s when the Jordanian Ministry of Education formed the Jordanian Committee for Arabization, Translation and Publication, which embraced the idea of establishing the Academy. After visiting Arabic language academies in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad, and reviewing their activities, regulations, systems and procedures, the Jordanian Council of Ministers in 1973 approved, in principle, the establishment of the Academy. In 1976, a Royal decree was issued ordering the inception of the Jordanian Arabic Language Academy which commenced its activities at that time. Currently, the Academy comprises 30 active members, in different fields of science and literature, in addition to a number of honorary and supporting members.

The primary objectives of the Academy are to sustain the integrity of the Arabic language, ensure that it keeps pace with modern literary, scientific and artistic requirements, fulfills the needs of community knowledge, and revive Arabic and Islamic heritage. It is also the Academy’s objective to publish unified glossaries of terms in literature, science and arts in collaboration with educational, scientific, linguistic and cultural institutions in Jordan and abroad.

In order to achieve these objectives, the Jordanian Arabic Language Academy has exerted inexorable efforts in translating sciences and technology, transferring terms and introducing Arabization in higher education as a prelude towards implementing Arabized science and technology in education throughout the Arab World. In addition, the Academy issues the periodical, Journal of the Jordanican Arabic Language Academy.

The Academy also prepares research and studies pertinent to the Arabic language and encourages writings, translations, and publications on the Arabic language and related issues, in addition to publishing new terminologies, holding conferences and collaborating with universities and other scientific and educational institutions in Jordan and abroad. The Academy also contributed to the initiative of the “Protection of Arabic Language Legislation”.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2017 -رضوان نائف السيد-

Professor Ridwan Al-Sayyid

by Islamic Studies

Ridwan Al-Sayed received his Alimiyyah Certificate (equivalent to Bachelor) from the College of Usul Al-Din in Al-Azhar University in 1970, and a State Doctorate in Philosophy from the Department of Religious Studies at TÜbingen University in Germany in 1977. He joined the academic staff of the Lebanese University for the next forty years, advancing from lecturer to Assistant Professor and becoming a full Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the College of Arts in 1989. He served as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Islamic Studies at Sana’a University in Yemen (1989-1991), the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the College of Law at Harvard University (1993-1994; 1997; 2002), and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago (1994; 1995) in the USA, the College of Theology at Salzburg University in Austria (1994), the Department of Comparative Theology and Anthropology at the University of Bamberg in Germany (2001), and the Institute of Islamic World Studies at Shaikh Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates (2012-2014). He is currently a professor emeritus at the Lebanese University.

Professor Radwan Al-Sayed is an eminent scholar, who has enriched the Arabic and Islamic libraries with his books, studies, and research that reflect his insights and thorough knowledge of Arabic and Islamic religious heritage, deep knowledge of modern research methodologies, and ability to pursue detailed analysis and coordination between the origins of Islamic political thought and contemporary Arabic/Islamic reality. He verified nine books pertaining to Islamic heritage and authored twelve other books, of which he translated five.

Professor Al-Sayed owns an imposing teaching experience both at the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels. This includes teaching the: origins of Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic theology, Qur’anic studies, Islamic history and sociology, Islamic philosophy, interpreters’ methods, modern Islamic thought, orientalists input, etc .

Apart from serving as a Professor of Islamic studies at the Lebanese University, Professor Al-Sayed held several other tasks during his career. He was an Acting Director of the Arab Development Institute in Beirut (1982-1985), and a Director of the High Institute for Islamic Studies (1985-1988; 1994-2000). He also served as an Editorial Secretary of the Islamic Thought journal (1970-1972), a Chief Editor of Arab Thought magazine (1979-1985), and a Co-editor of Al-Ijtihad journal (1988-2004). He has also made significant contributions in many conferences and seminars in the Arab World, Europe and the USA, in addition to his translations, journal articles and contributions in many cultural dialogues in various mass media.

He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Arab Thought Foundation, a Founding Member of the Deanship of Shari’a College in Beirut, an Active Member of the Royal Jordanian Al-Albait Academy, a Member of the German Orientalists Society, and of the Board of Directors of Al-Maqasid Islamic Society in Lebanon, and the Lebanese Universities’ Council.

Professor Al-Sayed was awarded Abdulhamid Shoman Prize for Islamic Studies in 1985, Abdulhadi Al-Dibs Prize for Distinguished Research in the field of Islamic Studies in 1997, and Al-Khwarizmi Prize for the best contribution in Islamic Studies in 1998.

 

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2017 - خادم الحرمين الشريفين-

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud

by Service to Islam

Salman Bin Abdulaziz grew up in Riyadh and received his early tutelage at the hands of many religious scholars and shaikhs. At the same time, he benefited from the close attention and guidance of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, who provided to his children a personally monitored education. He received a formal education at Riyadh-based Princes’ School, where he studied religion and modern sciences. He also completed the reading of the holy Qur’an, an achievement celebrated by his school in 1945.

King Salman was appointed in 1954 as a Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region when he was just nineteen years of age. In 1955, a Royal Decree was issued appointing him Governor of Riyadh Region. In 2011, he was decreed as a Minister of Defense; and in 2012, a Royal Decree was issued appointing him a Crown Prince, a Deputy Premier, and a Defense Minister. In 2015, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, was proclaimed King of Saudi Arabia.

King Salman Bin Abdulaziz accords tremendous consideration to humanitarian and cultural issues both inside and outside Saudi Arabia, and sponsored numerous cultural projects. Among the institutions and cultural/social societies, which he chairs, are the Board of Directors of King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives and King Fahad National Library. He has also chaired the High Commission for Development of Riyadh and the High Executive Committee for the Development of Dir’iya. He is also an Honorary President of the Charitable Society for Memorization of the Holy Quran in Riyadh Region. Besides, King Salman headed several humanitarian societies and commissions whose activities extend beyond Saudi Arabia. These include the Donations Committee for Distressed Inhabitants of Suez in 1956, the Principal Committee for Donations to Algeria in 1956, the Public Donations Committee for Jordanian Martyrs’ Families in 1967, the Public Relief Committee for Pakistani Sufferers during the India-Pakistan war in 1973, the Popular Committee for Supporting the War Effort in Egypt in 1973, and the Popular Committee for Supporting the War Effort in Syria in 1973.

 

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2016 - Professor Vamsi K. Mootha-

Professor Vamsi Krishna Mootha

by Science

Vamsi Mootha completed his high school education at Kelly High School in Beaumont, Texas in 1989, and received his B.Sc. (Honors, with Distinction) in Mathematical and Computational Science at Stanford University in 1993, and M.D. (cum laude) from Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard Medical School in 1998, his thesis being focused on mitochondrial energetics. Thereafter, he completed three-year Internship and Residency program in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (1998 to 2001), followed by another three years Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2001-2004) at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at Cambridge, MA, during which he worked on regulatory control in mitochondrial energetics. He is currently a Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School, a Professor of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, an Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a Senior Research Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

Professor Mootha and his team combine the tools of genomics with rigorous computation and biochemical physiology to explore mitochondrial function in health and disease. His major research accomplishments include characterization of the mitochondrial proteome, discovery of more than 15 novel mitochondrial disease genes by integrative genomics and use of targeted exome sequencing for clinical diagnostics. He also discovered the molecular machinery of mitochondrial calcium uniporter and showed that a subtle decline in mitochondrial gene expression underlies type 2 Diabetes and that the mitochondrial one-carbon pathway is altered in many diseases.

Professor Mootha’s outstanding contributions have been recognized by several honors including, the Grand Award of the 40th International Science and Engineering Fair (1989), Stanford University David Starr Jordan Scholarship (1990), HHMI Postdoctoral Fellowship for Physicians (2001), John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship (2004), NIH Wednesday Afternoon Lectureship (2006), Daland Prize of the American Philosophical Society (2008), MGH Martin Prize for Basic Research (2011), Keilin Medal of the Biochemical Society (2014) and the prestigious Padma Shri Prize of the Government of India (2014), and membership of the National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Mootha serves as editorial board member of Molecular Systems Biology, Cell Metabolism, and European Molecular Biology Organization Journal as well as ad hoc reviewer for many prestigious journals such as Science, Nature, Cell, New England Journal of Medicine, Genomic Research and others. Besides, he holds several other responsibilities as member of scientific advisory boards, grant reviewer and chairman, co-chairman or organizer of national and international symposia.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2016 - Professor Stephen P. Jackson-

Professor Stephen Philip Jackson

by Science

Stephen Jackson obtained his B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Leeds in 1983, and completed his Ph.D. research on yeast RNA splicing at the Imperial College of Science and Technology and the University of Edinburgh. Thereafter, he carried out post-doctoral research on the regulation of transcription at the University of California, Berkeley. Upon his return to the U.K. in 1991, he was appointed as a Junior Group Leader at the Gurdon Institute (formally known as Wellcome CRC Institute) and became Senior Group Leader and Fellow of St. John’s College at Cambridge University in 1995. He was also appointed as Fredrick James Quick Professor of Biology at the Department of Zoology from 1995 to 2009, then Fredrick James Quick and Cancer Research U.K. Professor of Biology at the Department of Biochemistry at Cambridge University from 2009. He is currently the Head of the Cancer Research U.K. Laboratories, and the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research U.K. Gurdon Institute.

 

Professor Jackson’s research focuses primarily on understanding how cells detect and repair DNA damage. Towards this objective, his laboratory uses a broad range of techniques and approaches to obtain a deeper insight of the cellular pathways that will yield a better understanding of the diseases that can arise when such pathways are lost e.g., hereditary and sporadic cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, developmental defects, immune deficiencies, infertility and premature aging, and will work on new treatment strategies for these diseases. Professor Jackson is a prolific author, with many of his publications appearing in prestigious journals. He is credited for his innovative approach towards rendering his findings into tangible therapeutic products for cancer treatment. In 1997, he founded KuDOS Pharmaceuticals, a drug discovery and drug-development company which seeks to develop new treatments for cancer based on knowledge of cellular DNA damage response pathways. The company was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2005. In 2011, he founded MISSION Therapeutics to develop drugs and improve management of life-threatening diseases, particularly cancer.

Professor Jackson’s outstanding contributions towards understanding DNA repair and DNA damage response signaling pathways have earned him many awards including the Biochemical Society Glaxo Smith Award (2008), the title of BBSRC Innovator of the Year (2009) and the Ganga A. and Ch. Van Hock Prize (2015). He is also a Member of the Biochemical Society, the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a member of numerous national and international scientific committees and advisory boards in his field of specialization.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2016 -Professor Joris A. Veltman-

Professor Joris A. Veltman

by Medicine

Joris Veltman obtained his B.S. in Molecular Sciences from Wageningen University in 1995 and his Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology ​​and Otorhinolaryngology from Maastricht University in 1999, followed by two post-doctoral fellowships, the first in the Department of Cancer Genetics at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of California in San Francisco in 1999-2000 and the second in the Department of Human Genetics at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, NL. He was appointed as an Assistant Professor during 2005-2008 then as an Associate Professor during 2008-2013 in the Department of Human Genetics at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in Nijmegen. He is currently a Professor of Translational Genomics in the Department of Medical Genetics at Radboud University, a Professor in the Department of Clinical Genetics at Maastricht University, and the Head of the Genome Research Division of the Department of Human Genetics at Radboud University.

Professor Veltman is a former member of the Scientific Program Committee for the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Genetics and its current Chairman, Director of the Next Generation Sequencing course of the European Society of Human Genetics in partnership with the European School of Genetic Medicine in Bologna, Italy, and an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Human Genetics. He also served as Chair of the Research Oversight Committee of the Genome Canada Project on Personalized Medicine and Genomics project on Epilepsy, member of the Annual Review Committee of Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative in New York and member of the review committee, Health Research Council, the Academy of Finland, Helsinki.

Professor Veltman is a distinguished molecular geneticist, who has been instrumental in the set-up, application, and implementation of genomics approaches in medical genetics. Together with Professor Henry Bruner, he developed and experimentally validated the hypothesis that a major part of intellectual disability should be due to de novo gene mutations, given the severity, early onset and genetic heterogeneity of such forms of disability. Professors Veltman and Bruner used a combination of genomic microarrays, exome and genomic sequencing approaches in their studies, and their de novo paradigm has since been validated in other neurocognitive phenotypes, autism, epileptic encephalopathies and schizophrenia. Their contribution thus represents one of the recent major breakthroughs in human genetics.

Professor Veltman’s innovative achievements have been recognized by research grants and awards from the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the European Union.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2016 -Professor Henri G. Brunner-

Professor Henri G. Brunner

by Medicine

Henri Brunner graduated from the University of Groningen Medical School in 1984, completed his specialty training in Clinical Genetics in 1988 at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen and was board certified in Clinical Genetics in 1988. He joined the Section of Clinical Genetics at the Institute of Human Genetics in Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in 1988. In 1993, he earned a Ph.D. degree for his genetic studies in myotonic dystrophy. He became a full Professor of Human Genetics and the Head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Radboud University Medical Center in 1998. In 2014, he was also appointed as Chairman of the Institute of Clinical Genetics at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. From 2004 to 2008, he was also Chancellor for Human Genetics, Pediatrics, and Medical Psychology at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center.

Professor Brunner holds or has previously held many other responsibilities nationally and internationally. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the KNAW Hubrecht Laboratory at Utrecht, a former Chairman of the Dutch National Organization for Scientific Research Committee for VICI career development grants, a former Chairman of Quality Assurance Committee of the Dutch Clinical Genetic Society. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Dutch Organization for Research of Neuromuscular diseases, the Core Assessment Committee for the Leiden UMC Science Review, the Board of Directors of the Dutch Society of Human Genetics, and the Medical Sciences Fellowship Committee of the Dutch National Organization for Scientific Research.

At the international level, Professor Brunner serves as President of the European Society of Human Genetics, Co-Chairman of Diagnostics of the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium, Joint Organizer of the European School of Medical Genetics. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Human Genetics and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Sydney Brenner Institute of Molecular Biology in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has also served as a member of the Executive Board of the European Society of Human Genetics, the Scientific Committee, Telethon, Italy, the Scientific Program Committee for the World Congress of Human Genetics, Brisbane, Australia, and the Jury for the Soderberg professorship of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the editorial boards of Molecular Syndromology, Clinical Genetics, and Journal of Medical Genetics, and former editorial board member of the Netherlands Journal of Medicine and Clinical Syndromology.

Professor Brunner is a distinguished molecular geneticist and a leader in the clinical delineation of a large number of rare genetic syndromes and the application of next generation sequencing technology in the clinic. Professors Brunner and Veltman and their groups carried out joint seminal studies using clinical genetic observations as the starting point for human molecular genetic investigations into such aspects as human behavior, skeletal development, brain development, neuromuscular disease, congenital malformations and gonadal development and function. Their pioneering studies, which are published in leading scientific journals have changed the lives of thousands of families worldwide and paved the way for more clinical applications of next generation genomic sequencing technology.

 

Professor Brunner’s accomplishments have been recognized by several awards including the Prize of the Dutch Organization for Research of Neuromuscular diseases, for research of myotonic dystrophy in 1994; the Ben ter Haar Prize of the Clinical Genetics Society of the Netherlands for research in the field of clinical genetics in 1995; Frank Greenberg memorial lectureship at Baylor college of medicine, Houston USA in 2009; the Radboud Science Award in 2011, and the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh Endowed Lecture, Edinburgh UK in 2012.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2016 -محمد عبدالمطلب-

Professor Mohamed Abdalmotaleb Mostafa

by Arabic Language and Literature

 

Muhammad Mustafa obtained his Licentiate of Arts from Dar Al-Ulum College, Cairo University in 1964, and a master’s degree in Literary Criticism and Eloquence from Dar Al-Ulum in 1973, and a Ph.D. in Literary Criticism and Eloquence from Ain Shams University in Cairo in 1978.

Professor Abdul Muttalib pursued an uninterrupted academic career for about 35 years during which he progressed from Instructor in the Department of Arabic Language and Arts at the Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University in 1979 to full professor of Literary Criticism and Eloquence in 1990 and Chairman of the Department of Arabic Language in 2000. He is currently an Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University. Professor Abdul Muttalib’s rich academic career witnessed his authorship of about thirty books and numerous publications in Arabic journals, supervision of many Masters and Ph.D. theses and participation in most literary and cultural conferences in Egypt and the Arab World. He is noted for his accomplishments in applied analysis of Arabic poetry and for competently and skillfully coining his analysis of poetic texts with deep knowledge of Arabic culture and insight of contemporary literary and stylistic concepts. He has participated and continues to participate actively in his country’s cultural and literary life, being Chief Editor of the Literary Studies series published by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture’s General Commission for Books, Karmat ibn Hani journal, Litterateurs periodical published by the Litterateurs Club and Literary Voices published by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. He also serves as Convener of the poetry committee in the Supreme Council for Culture and member of the Secretarial Committee of Bait al-Shi’r (Home of Poetry), as well as the Egyptian Union of Writers, the Literary Society, the Egyptian Society for literary Criticism and the literary assignments committee of the Supreme Council for Culture.

Professor Abdul Muttalib was awarded the Order of Cavalier by the French Government in 1997 in recognition of his literary and cultural contributions. He has also received several other honors, including Ain Shams Distinguished Research Award in 1986, Al Babtain Foundation Prize for Arabic Literary Criticism in 1991, Yamani Foundation Prize for Poetry Criticism in 1994, Ain Shams Appreciation Award in 2007 and the Writers Union Prize (Rajaa Al-Naggash) in 2009.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

2016- محمد مفتاح-

Professor Mohammed El-Ghazouani Miftah

by Arabic Language and Literature

 

Mohammad Muftah obtained his Licentiate in Arabic Literature in 1966, Certificate of Comparative Linguistics and Literary Studies and Certificate of Competence in Education and Psychology in 1967. He completed his Doctorate Degree (Third Cycle) in 1974 and State Doctorate of Arts in 1981, specializing in Islamic Moroccan Thought and both early and modern concepts of literary criticism. He is currently Emeritus Professor at Rabat University.

Professor Muftah joined Rabat University in 1971 and became full Professor in 1981. During his career, he taught Methods of Writing in Islamic Morocco and Arabic Literary Criticism and Modern Eloquence and supervised a number of post-graduate studies. He has also given introductory classes in Arab Universities, including lectures in Arts colleges in Sfax University in Tunisia, King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Nouakchott University in Mauritania and was Visiting Professor at Princeton University in the USA. He is a member of the National Committee for Academic Reform and Accreditation in the Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education, founder and chairman of the Round Table Committee on Literary Theories, member of the Professorial Promotions Committee of Rabat University, Honorary member of the Moroccan University for Integration of

Sciences and former member of the Executive Office of Andalusian Studies and Cultural Dialogue and the Editorial Boards of Arts and Humanities Journal in Rabat and Al-Manahil and Moroccan Culture journals published by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and Communication.

Professor Muftah’s insightful publications and research, have led him to develop a pioneering intellectual perception of Arabic poetry based on applied analysis of poetic texts and its relation to other arts, and the combination between comprehensive knowledge of Arabic heritage and modern literary concepts, thereby revealing the noble human values expressed in different poetic styles through different eras.

In recognition of his distinguished literary theoretical and critical efforts, Professor Muftah was awarded the Royal Moroccan Order of Officer in 2008. He was also awarded several other prizes including Moroccan Grand Prize for the Best Book in Literature and Arts in 1987, Saddam Prize for Literary Research in 1989, Moroccan Grand Book Prize in 1995, Sultan Al-Owais Prize for Arabic Literary Criticism in 2004 and both Shaikh Zayed’s Book Prize and the Arab Network for Tolerance Prize in 2010.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.