James Zogby

Dr. James J. Zogby is the author of "Arab Voices" and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization that serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community.

Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S. Through voter registration, education, and mobilization, AAI has moved Arab Americans into the political mainstream. For the past three decades, Dr. Zogby has been involved in a full range of Arab American issues. Dr. Zogby also directs Zogby Research Services, a firm that conducts surveys across the Middle East, providing insights into public opinions in the region.

Dr. Zogby has been actively engaged in U.S. politics, advising presidential campaigns for Jesse Jackson, Al Gore, Barack Obama, and Bernie Sanders. He has held significant roles within the Democratic National Committee, including Chair of the DNC Ethnic Council and Co-Chair of the DNC's Resolutions Committee. In September 2013, Dr. Zogby was appointed by President Obama to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, where he served until May 2017.

A scholar with a deep focus on Middle Eastern issues, Dr. Zogby has written extensively on the subject. His weekly column on Middle East affairs has been published since 1992 and appears in 12 countries. In addition to "Arab Voices," his publications include "Looking at Iran: The Rise and Fall of Iran in Arab Public Opinion" and "20 Years After Oslo," both released in 2013. His latest book, "The Tumultuous Decade: Arab, Turkish, and Iranian Public Opinion - 2019-2019," provides an analysis of transformations in the Middle East after significant events such as the US withdrawal from Iraq and the Arab Spring. Dr. Zogby holds a doctorate from Temple University’s Department of Religion, obtained in 1975, and was a National Endowment for the Humanities Post-Doctoral Fellow at Princeton University in 1976.