Muneera Salem-Murdock has a Ph.D. in Anthropology and an MA in English Literature, and has native fluency in English, Arabic, and Circassian, as well as excellent French. She has held key roles at USAID, including Acting Director of the Office of Women in Development, and at the World Bank. Dr. Salem-Murdock has extensive experience in Africa and the Middle East, and has lectured widely, worldwide, on a variety of topics. She is author of Arabs and Nubians in New Halfa: A Study of Settlement and Irrigation (University of Utah Press, 1989), co-author of Les Barrages de la Controverse: le cas de la Vallée du Fleuve Sénégal (Editions L’Harmattan, 1994), and editor of Anthropology and Development in North Africa and the Middle East (Westview Press, 1990).