New York Law School Professor Sadiq Reza Named 2008 Carnegie Scholar

Contact: LaToya Nelson, 212.431.2191, lnelson@nyls.edu

New York Law School Professor Sadiq Reza has been selected as a 2008 Carnegie Scholar by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Carnegie Scholars program allows for selected scholars to pursue original projects by providing two-year grants of up to $100,000 and intellectual support.

The Carnegie Scholars program was established by Vartan Gregorian in 1999 to provide financial and intellectual support to writers, analysts, and thinkers addressing some of the most critical research questions of our time. Since 2005, the program has supported scholars whose work seeks to promote American understanding of Islam. Reza is one of 20 new scholars selected this year.

“To have my work recognized and supported by the Carnegie Corporation is a great honor,” Professor Reza said. “The Carnegie Scholar grant will enable me to give sustained attention to identifying principles that pertain to the modern-day practice of Islamic criminal law, a topic about which we know very little here in the U.S.  I hope my research will advance scholarly understanding of this practice and also advance Muslim dialogue in the field, specifically in the direction of suggesting rules and principles of due process that should govern the practice and promote justice from an Islamic perspective as well as an international one.”

Professor Reza’s current research and writing is in criminal law and procedure in Islamic law and in countries of the contemporary Muslim world. In 2004–05, he was a visiting researcher at the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School and in fall 2007 he was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School’s Graduate Program. Professor Reza has written and spoken extensively about criminal procedure issues in the wake of September 11th.

Professor Reza has been teaching at New York Law School since 1999. In 2007, graduating students named Professor Reza the New York Law School Teacher of the Year. He received an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Harvard University.

About New York Law School
Founded in 1891, New York Law School is an independent law school located in lower Manhattan near the city’s centers of law, government, and finance. New York Law School’s renowned faculty of prolific scholars has built the School’s strength in such areas as constitutional law, civil and human rights, labor and employment law, media and information law, urban legal studies, international and comparative law, and a number of interdisciplinary fields. The School is noted for its seven academic centers: Center for International Law, Center for New York City Law, Center for Professional Values and Practice, Center for Real Estate Studies, Center on Business Law and Policy, Institute for Information Law and Policy, and Justice Action Center. New York Law School has more than 13,000 graduates and enrolls some 1,500 students in its full- and part-time J.D. program and its Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation program. www.nyls.edu