Norton Mezvinksy
In Memoriam

Our fine colleague, Norton Mezvinsky, left this fragile world on the 16th of September, 2022. I met him through my colleague and friend Ibrahim Abu-Rabi (2nd of July 2011), Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Alberta. While director of the Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life I invited Professor Mezvinsky to give lectures in Edmonton and Camrose on several occasions. He also joined Ibrahim and I in some of our work in Turkey.

Norton, along with several colleagues, founded the International Council of Middle East Studies (icmes.net) and I was privileged to serve on its Board of Directors at Norton’s invitation. I talked with Norton periodically during the final months of his life as he was undergoing cancer therapy. News of his death, however, was unexpected.

Norton’s work and contribution to scholarship and public life was substantial. In this In Memoriam I remember him, his indomitable spirit and ability to reach across deep difference, his courage in addressing the protracted struggle in Israel/Palestine, and his vigilance in addressing Islamophobia and anti-Semitism and calling us to our better angels.  

In September of 2019, when we both spoke at a conference of the International Council of Middle East Studies, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, I did a podcast with him exploring his current work and how he came to his life-long work. You can listen to this podcast here: