Board of Directors

Scott Alexander, Ph.D.

Dr. Scott Alexander is currently Associate Professor of Islam at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he is also Director of the school’s Catholic-Muslim Studies Program. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in the history of religions, with a concentration in Islamic studies from Columbia University in New York.

In March of 2007, Dr. Alexander was one of five U.S. scholars to be awarded an Association of Theological Schools Lilly Faculty Fellowship in support of his research and writing. Beyond his extensive work with the Muslim community in Chicago and the U.S., Dr. Alexander also has first-hand experience with Muslim communities in the traditional Muslim world and is currently working to expand the outreach of CTU’s Catholic-Muslim Studies Program to similar programs in Nigeria, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Mark Webb, Ph.D.

Dr. Mark Webb is Professor and Chairman of the Philosophy Department at Texas Tech University. He has received both his B.A. in philosophy and his two M.A. degrees, one in philosophy and the other in Classical Humanities from Texas Tech University, and earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Syracuse University. Professor Webb specializes in epistemology and philosophy of religion. He is currently working in the epistemology of religious experience, especially as it applies to non-Western religious experiences. His articles have appeared in The Journal of Philosophy, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, The International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, and Hypatia, and “An Eliminativist Theory of Religion,” in Sophia.

Officers:

Y. Alp Aslandogan, PhD

Executive Director, Alliance for Shared Values

Dr. Y. Alp Aslandogan is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Shared Values. Prior to his current position, Dr. Aslandogan served as the board president of the Institute of Interfaith Dialog in Houston, Texas.  In that role, he oversaw the organization of academic as well as grassroots activities of the Institute around topics such as shared values of humanity, social cognition and conflicts, the art of living together, foundations and methodology of interfaith and intercultural dialogue, and the role of faithful citizens in democracy. Dr. Aslandogan recently co-edited a book entitled “Muslim Citizens of the Globalized World: Contributions of the Gulen Movement,” published by the Institute of Interfaith Dialog. He is also the co-author of an upcoming book on the history of democracy in Turkey. Dr. Aslandogan is an author and an editor of the Fountain magazine, and a board member of the Journal of Interreligious Dialogue.

Dr. Aslandogan earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago and served as a faculty member at the University of Texas at Arlington, and Prairie View A&M University.