Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Mazen Butros Qumsiyeh (born 1957 in Beit Sahour ) is a Palestinian scientist and author , who founded the Palestine Museum of Natural History (PMNH) and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University , worked on the faculties of the University of Tennessee (1989–1993), Duke University (1993–1999), and Yale University (1999–2005), and since 2008 has devoted his time to research and teaching at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities , joining other professors to offer the first master’s program in biotechnology in the region. He has published over 150 scientific papers on topics ranging from cultural heritage to biodiversity , as well as several books, and is a board member of a number of Palestinian youth and service organizations such as the Pioneers Children’s Theater and the Siraj Center.
education
Mazen Qumsieh received his BS in Biology from the University of Jordan in 1978, his MS in Zoology with a specialization in Systematics and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Connecticut in 1982, his PhD in Zoology/Genetics from Texas Tech University in 1986, and went on to do a fellowship in Clinical Cytogenetics with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee (1991) and a fellowship in Clinical Molecular Genetics with Duke University (1998), and he is certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics in two specialties: Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics.
Career
Mazen returned to Palestine in 2008, becoming a part-time professor and thesis advisor at Bethlehem University , and also teaching advanced molecular biology as an assistant professor at Birzeit University . In 2014, he founded the Palestine Museum of Natural History and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University with $250,000 in funding donated by him and his wife. Qumsieh serves as the director of both institutions, and their programs have focused on outreach, empowerment, and education with great success.
His activity
In the early 2000s, Qumsieh was active in political and social issues, especially Palestinian rights. Due to his prolific writings on the subject, Qumsieh has been interviewed by The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe , as well as CNBC and ABC News. He has served as vice chairman of the Middle East Crisis Committee since 2003, co-founded the Al-Awda (Palestinian Right of Return) Coalition in 2000, and served as national treasurer and media coordinator until 2004.
While living in North Carolina, he served as the media coordinator for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and served as the media coordinator for the Connecticut chapter of the Palestinian American Congress from 2003 to 2008.
He co-founded the Academics for Justice and Boycott Israeli Goods campaigns, and was a member of the steering committee of the US Campaign to End the Occupation and the Association for One Democratic State in Israel/Palestine from 2005 to 2007, in the context of which he was arrested in May 2010 and 2011 in Walaja .
He has lectured and presented on human rights around the world at such venues as the NATO Defense College, St. Edward's University, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Ubud Readers and Writers Festival, SOAS , [ College , the Palestinian American Council, the Rhodes Forum , Brown University , the Munich Rachel Carson Center, Leipzig University Institute of Oriental Studies, Yale University Calhoun College, and others. Past lecture topics have ranged from human rights, Palestinian resistance and empowerment, the Israeli-Palestinian struggle, and the one-state solution.
On September 4, 2012, the Board of Directors of the Supreme Council for Creativity and Excellence was formed , and President Mahmoud Abbas appointed him as a member, where he continued until February 3, 2018.
Awards and Honors
In October 2011, Qumsieh was honored with the Social Courage Award from the Peace and Justice Studies Association at the PJSA/Gandhi-King Conference in Memphis, Tennessee . The Montana Peace Seekers Network named him the 2013 Peace Scholar of the Year in recognition of his international efforts. Arab World Books included him in its March 2008 selection of writers "who have enriched our pages with their creative writing and enlightened us with their progressive thinking," and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Paul Feyerabend Foundation honored him with their Alex Odeh Award and the Takreem Award for his dedication to diversity, integrity, and justice.
The Connecticut Chapter of the Return awarded Qumsieh the 2005 Activism Award and a year earlier he was honored by the American Friends Service Committee, Connecticut Chapter, and the American-Arab National Anti-Discrimination Committee awarded him the 1997 Raymond Gallo Activism Award.
Books
Qamsiyeh has published many scientific papers on several topics, including primates , biodiversity, and cancer , and has several books in various languages:
Arabic
Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment (2011).
Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle (2004).
Mammals of the Holy Land (1996).
Bats of Egypt (1985).
Other languages
"Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment"
"Sharing the Land of Canaan"
"Mammals of the Holy Land"
"Bats of Egypt"
"The Bat Fauna of Jabal Al Akhdar, Northeast Lybia"
"Compare the Canaan tier: human beings and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict"
Bat Records from Mauritania, Africa (Mammalia: Chiroptera)
Rhinopoma Hardwickii and Rhinopoma Muscatellum
Chromosomal Evolution in the Rodent Family Gerbillidae
Rhinopoma Microphyllum
Palestinian Refugees Right to Return and Repatriation
Chromosomal Fissions and Phylogenetic Hypotheses
Source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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