Osman Bakar, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Malaya, is currently Professor of Islamic Thought and Civilization at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization in Malaysia. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington DC. He was educated at the London University where he obtained his B.Sc and M.Sc in Mathematics. He earned his doctorate in Islamic philosophy from Temple University, Philadelphia. A Fullbright Visiting Scholar, he has published 13 books and more than 150 articles on Islamic thought and civilization, particularly Islamic philosophy and science, and on contemporary Islam, inter-religious and inter-civilizational dialogues. The founder of the Center for Civilizational Dialogue at the University of Malaya, he has also served as advisor and consultant to various international academic and professional organizations and institutions, including UNESCO and The Qatar Foundation. He is a member of The West-Islamic World Initiative for Dialogue established by the World Economic Forum based in Switzerland.