Education: BA, Arabic, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1972; PhD, Arabic and Islamic Studies specialising in mediaeval Islamic Philosophy, University of Exeter 1976

Career: Ian Netton was appointed Sharjah Professor of Islamic Studies at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter in 2007. Professor Netton, who was born in Singapore, taught at Exeter from 1977 until 1995 where he was latterly Reader in Arab and Islamic Civilization and Thought. In September 1995 he became the University of Leeds first Professor of Arabic Studies and he remained in Leeds until 2007, serving four terms as Head of that University's Department of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies. He was also Director of the University’s Centre for Mediaeval Studies from 1997–2002. Professor Netton’s primary research interests are Islamic theology and philosophy, Sufism, mediaeval Arab travellers, Arabic and Islamic bibliography, comparative textuality and semiotics, comparative religion and general Islamic Studies. He serves on several national committees, including as Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council Research Panel 8 (Philosophy, Religious Studies and Law) and as a sub-panellist in his field for the Research Assessment Exercise of 2008. Ian Netton is Editor of the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (see url below).

Publications include: author or editor of 16 books, including: Islam, Christianity and Tradition: A Comparative Exploration 2006, Islamic Philosophy and Theology (four vols; editor) 2007; numerous articles in professional journals

Contact details: Address: Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4ND, England; Tel: +44 (0)1392 269259; Email: i.netton@exeter.ac.uk ; Website: http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/iais/ ; Website: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/13530194.asp/ .