Ronald A. Messier

Ronald A. Messier is professor Emeritus in History at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) where he taught Islamic history and historical archaeology from 1972 to 2004 and was director of the Honors Program from 1982 to 1992. From 1992 to 2004, he was also adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University, and full time Senior Lecturer from 2004 to 2008. He received his MA and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He is president of the advisory board for the Atlantic Institute of Tennessee. His teaching and research focus on Islam and the history and archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa. From 1987 to 1998, he directed the excavation of the ancient city of Sijilmasa in Morocco, famous for its gold trade and its contacts with Timbuktu. In recognition of that work, he received MTSU's prestigious Outstanding Research Award in 1997. He is currently directing an archaeology project at Aghmat, near Marrakech, Morocco. He has published over two dozen articles, co-edited a book entitled Jihad and its Times. His recent publications include, The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad, and Jesus, One Man Two Faiths: a Dialogue between Christians and Muslims. His book The Last Civilized Place: Sijilmasa and Its Saharan Destiny, co-authored with James A. Miller and published by the University of Texas Press, was released in May of 2015. He has won several teaching awards including the CASE Tennessee Professor of the Year Award for 1993. Since 1992, he has been the lecturer for over forty study tours including twelve tours to Morocco, five to Israel, five to Spain, three to Syria and Jordan, three to Egypt, three to Tunisia, three to Turkey, one to Oman in the Persian Gulf, and two to Mali and Timbuktu.