STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Dr. Emran El-Badawi has been named Dean of Tarleton State University’s College of Liberal and Fine Arts, effective Aug. 5.

Most recently, he served as Chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Houston, where he was also Director of the Middle Eastern Studies program. At UH, he founded the Arab Studies program and designed, implemented and assessed degree offerings in the humanities and sciences.

“Dr. El-Badawi’s forwarding-thinking approach makes him the ideal candidate for Tarleton State,” said Dr. Diane Stearns, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. “His vision for bolstering our degree programs, enhancing faculty success, and fostering community engagement in the arts and humanities will illuminate the achievements of our largest college.”

While at UH, Dr. El-Badawi was responsible for strategic and budgetary planning, personnel, facilities, program building, curriculum development, evaluation, and assessment of teaching and learning. He also collaborated with other academic deans, the advancement office, program directors and departmental chairs.

He has also been involved in fundraising efforts and grants for UH, helping raise funds totaling nearly $2 million. In 2022, Dr. El-Badawi helped secure $257,000 in state funds for the India Studies program to utilize for visiting faculty, study abroad, scholarships, events and conferences.

His research focuses on civilization in the Middle East and North Africa, including areas such as modernity and religion, energy and sustainability, Quran and Bible, and gender and classical Islam. He has consulted for several industries, including law, government, and oil and gas.

Dr. El-Badawi has been published in English and Arabic and translated into several more languages. He has contributed to The New York Times, Al-Jazeera, Forbes, Christian Science Monitor and Association Relative à la Télévision Européenne (ARTE). He has written over 60 scholarly publications during his academic career.

“I am honored and elated to join the rapidly growing Tarleton community,” he said. “I look forward to working with faculty and staff, transforming the lives of students, and fostering the College of Liberal and Fine Arts on a national stage.”

Before joining UH, he spent 2006 to 2010 teaching Arabic at the University of Chicago, and 2003 to 2005 as a lecturer of religion at Temple University.

Dr. El-Badawi holds a doctorate with honors in near eastern languages and civilizations from the University of Chicago, where he also earned a master’s degree. He has a master’s degree in religion from Temple University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a second major in religion from Rutgers University.

For more information on Tarleton State’s College of Liberal and Fine Arts, visit https://www.tarleton.edu/colfa/.

A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State University is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of approximately 18,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. For 125 years, Tarleton State has been committed to accessible higher education opportunities for all while helping students grow academically, socially and professionally through programs that emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.