Bassam Frangieh

Bassam Frangieh completed his undergraduate education at Damascus University in Syria, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Arabic language and literature. Frangieh continued his education at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., earning a Master of Arts in Arabic Language, Linguistics, and Literature and a Ph.D. in Arabic Language and Literature.

Upon completion of his studies, Bassam Frangieh began his career as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Georgetown, and served as the Director of Georgetown’s Arabic Summer Language Institute. Frangieh also taught for two summers in the Summer Institute at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

In 1993, Bassam Frangieh joined the faculty of Yale University as Senior Lector of Arabic, a position he would hold until 2007. He earned formal recognition for his skills as an educator in 2001, when he won the Yale College Prize for Teaching Excellence by a Lecturer or Lector. Frangieh also served as Director of Yale University’s Modern Arabic Language Program from 2005 to 2007.

Currently, Bassam Frangieh is a professor of Arabic in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. He continues to win praise for his teaching methods, most recently as the 2010 recipient of the Glenn R. Huntoon Award for Superior Teaching. Frangieh maintains membership in the Modern Language Association and the Middle East Studies Association. He is also active in his local community.