Zeinab Abul-Magd is an Associate Professor of Middle Eastern history. She received her PhD in history and political economy from Georgetown University, in 2008, and her MA in Arab Studies and Islamic Law also from Georgetown University, in 2003. She received her B.S. in Political Science from Cairo University, Egypt, in 1996. She specializes in the socio-economic and military histories of the Middle East, from the rise of Islam until the present day.
Her recent books include Militarizing the Nation: The Army, Business, and Revolution in Egypt, 1952-2015 (New York: Columbia University Press, forthcoming 2016), and Businessmen in Arms: How the Military and Other Armed Groups Profit in the MENA Region, co-editor with Elke Grawert (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016). Her first book, Imagined Empires: A History of Revolt in Egypt (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013), is the winner of MESA's Roger Owen Book Award in economic history in 2015, and its Arabic translation is titled Imbraturiyyat Mutakhayalla: Tarikh al-Thawra fi Sa'id Misr, 1500-2011 (Cairo: The National Council of Translation, 2015).
Associate Professor of History Zeinab Abul-Magd was awarded the Roger Owen Book Award for her book Imagined Empires: A History of Revolt in Egypt at the 2015 Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting November 21-24 in Denver.
The Roger Owen book award is a biennial award and the highest recognition for books produced in Middle East studies with a special focus on economic history, economics, and political economy of the Middle East and North Africa. It is one of only two book awards presented by MESA.