29 March 1929 – December 2021

Dr Crane was the chairman of the Center for Understanding Islam and Muslims, which has produced the influential textbook, Islam and Muslims: Essence and Practice. Between 2012-2015 Dr Crane was a professor in the Qatar Foundation’s Faculty of Islamic Studies and Director of its Center for the Study of Islamic Thought and Muslim Societies. Earlier in his career, under President Nixon, he was appointed Deputy Director for Planning in the National Security Council, and under President Reagan he was the US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, charged with initiating two-track diplomacy with leaders, including Tunisia’s Sheikh Rachid al Ghannouchi, in branches of the Muslim Brotherhood.