Western professor Maya Shatzmiller, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 2003, is the world’s leading economic historian of the pre-modern Middle East.
Her research, showcased in her numerous books and articles, has been referred to as pioneering, significant and influential. Prof. Shatzmiller’s research has challenged, and scientifically refuted, long-standing widely-held assumptions about medieval Islamic history and its relevance to today.
In addition to innovative research in the field of social and economic history through her publications and knowledge translation, Prof. Shatzmiller has influenced public policy on global issues such as women’s status and minorities’ rights in the Islamic state. In 2018, her work was recognized with a Hellmuth Prize for outstanding international research in the social sciences and humanities.
