Abdi Ismail Samatar

Abdi Ismail Samatar (, ) (born 1950) is a Somali scholar, writer and professor of geography.

Personal life Samatar was born in 1956 in Gabiley in Somalia. He is the brother of scholar and politician Ahmed Ismail Samatar.

For his tertiary education, Samatar earned an A.B. from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in 1979. He later obtained a MCRP in Urban/Regional Planning from the Iowa State University in 1981. In 1985, he completed a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Samatar is Muslim.

Career Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Samatar was a lecturer at the University of Iowa.

He has authored several books centered on democracy and development in the Africa.

In Spring 2003, Samatar was the Chair of the Harmonization Committee of the Somali Charter: Somali Reconciliation – Independent Committee.

Awards Samatar has received various awards for his work, including: University of Minnesota President's Award for Service, 2018 University of Minnesota Somali Student Association Award, 2017 University of Minnesota Outstanding Community Service Award, 2004 Finalist, Herskovits Award of the African Studies Association for An African Miracle, 2000 Fulbright Scholar Award, 1993/4 and 1999 Design Achievement Award in recognition for substantial contribution to the field of Community and Regional Planning, Iowa State University, October 20, 2000 Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Teaching and Leadership in Community-University Collaboration, University of Minnesota, 1997 Collegiate Teaching Award, University of Iowa, 1989–90

Professional memberships Samatar's professional memberships include: Editorial Board, African Geographic Review Journal Editorial Board, Bildan: Somali Studies Journal Member, board of directors of African Studies Association, 2002–2004 President of African Studies Association, 2013–2014 Committee member, MacArthur Compton Fellowships Graduate Education Policy

Selected works Framing Somalia: Beyond Africa's Merchants of Misery" Abdi Simalia Samatar, 2022. Africa’s First Democrats: Somalia’s Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen. Abdi Ismail Samatar, 2016 The African State: Reconsideration. Samatar, Abdi, Ahmed Samatar, Co-Editor, 2002. An African Miracle: State and Class Leadership and Colonial Legacy in Botswana. Samatar, Abdi, Heinemann, 1999. "The Dialectics of Piracy in Somalia: the Poor versus the Rich". Samatar, Abdi, Third World Quarterly, December 2010. "Faithless Power as Fraticide: Is there an Alternative in Somalia?" Samatar, Abdi, International Journal of Somali Studies, 9 63–81, 2009. "Back to the Future". Samatar, Abdi, BBC Focus on Africa Magazine, July–September 34–5, 2008. "Debating Somali Identity in a British Tribunal". The BBC Somali Service. Samatar, Abdi, Author, 2007. "The Islamic Courts and the Mogadishu Miracle: What comes Next for Somalia". Samatar, Abdi, Review of African political Economy, Fall 2006. "The Ethiopian Election of 2005: A Bombshell & Turning Point". Samatar, Abdi, Review of African Political Economy, 104/5, 2005. Ethiopian Federalism: Autonomy versus Control in the Somali Region. Samatar, Abdi, Author, 2004. Editorial of Somali Reconciliation. Samatar, Abdi, Ahmed Samatar, 2003. Somalis as Africa's First Democrats. Samatar, Abdi, Ahmed Samatar, 2002. Local Initiatives and Somali Reconstruction. Samatar, Abdi, 2001. Social Transformation and Islamic Reinterpretation in Northern Somalia: The Women's Mosque in Gabiley. Samatar, Abdi, 2000. Ethnicity and leadership in the making of African state models: Botswana versus Somalia. Samatar, Abdi, 1997.