Timothy J. Gianotti

Dr. Timothy J. Gianotti currently serves as the President of the American Islamic College in Chicago as well as the founder and principal teacher of the Islamic Institute for Spiritual Formation in Toronto. He is a scholar of classical Islamic theology, philosophy, and spirituality with strong interests in Islamic Psychology, Ethics, Moral Theology, Education, Political Thought, and comparative mysticism; he is also a theologian and committed interfaith advocate with hands-on experience promoting interfaith engagement around the globe. With more than twenty years of university-level teaching experience in the US and Canada, he has served as the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost at the American Islamic College in Chicago, associate professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Waterloo in Canada, the Director of Islamic Studies at the American Islamic College, the York-Noor Chair of Islamic Studies at York University (Canada), and as an assistant professor of Arabic & Islamic Thought at the University of Virginia, the University of Oregon, and Penn State University.

He is the author of two books – Al-Ghazali’s Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001) and In the Light of a Blessed Tree: Illuminations of Islamic Belief, Practice, and History (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2011) – in addition to a range of scholarly articles, book chapters, and theological essays considering contemporary issues as well as traditional topics, such as the inner (psycho-spiritual) processes of moral beautification (iḥsān) and character formation within a traditional Islamic framework.