The School of Foreign Service is deeply saddened to announce that Professor John L. Esposito passed away on July 15, 2026, in Philadelphia as a result of complications from heart surgery.
John was the University Professor Emeritus of Religion and International Affairs and Professor of Islamic Studies at SFS. He also served as the founding director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and the founding director of The Bridge Initiative on Protecting Pluralism and Ending Islamophobia.
John was recruited to the Georgetown faculty in 1993. Seven years later, he was appointed University Professor, joining a select group of individuals at Georgetown who enjoy this prestigious recognition.
Academically, John Esposito was a leading scholar of the study of religion and international affairs, focusing particularly on Islam. His body of work helped to define and shape the modern study of Muslim societies.
John’s intellectual output was staggering. He published more than 55 books that have been translated into dozens of languages. Many of John’s books are required reading today at universities and colleges around the world. Some of his books include: The Future of Islam; Islamophobia and the Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century; Who Speaks for Islam?; What a Billion Muslims Really Think; Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam; The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?; Islam and Politics and Makers of Contemporary Islam and Islam and Democracy (with John O. Voll).
John also published more than a hundred peer-reviewed journal articles in major academic journals. He served as editor-in-chief of several Oxford University Press encyclopedia projects, and he was the founding editor of Oxford Islamic Studies Online.
John was elected as president of both the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR). He rounded out his public service by acting as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State and other government agencies. Many governments sought his counsel, and he was constantly in demand to deliver keynote lectures at universities around the world. John also served as an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders and as a member of the European Network of Experts on De-Radicalization.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to scholarship and to intellectual and public life, John was awarded seven honorary doctorates. He was the recipient of the American Academy of Religion’s Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion, Pakistan’s Qaid-i-Azam Award for Outstanding Contributions in Islamic Studies, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service Outstanding Teacher Award and Georgetown’s Career Research Achievement Award.
John Esposito’s contributions to Georgetown University go well beyond his own scholarship. He was instrumental in establishing the Malaysia Chair for the Study of Islam in Southeast Asia and the Hasim Sabbagh Fund for the study of the Islamic world. He obtained a transformative gift from the Alwaleed Foundation to permanently endow the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, where he served as the founding director. He also created the Bridge Initiative, a project to monitor, document and combat Islamophobia on a global level.
Over the course of his career, John mentored generations of students. He also served on dozens of M.A. and Ph.D. committees. During critical moments in global affairs, particularly in the aftermath of 9/11, John’s scholarly and public intellectual voice helped to shape our national conversation. He was a frequent guest on mainstream media, writing for and giving interviews to newspapers and magazines in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East. His writings have been published by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Guardian and The Times of London. He has been interviewed by CNN, ABC Nightline, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera and the BBC.
John’s ethical decency embodied the Jesuit value of cura personalis—Latin for “care of the whole person.” In this sense, John’s life reflected the best traditions of the United States rooted in religious freedom, freedom of speech and intellectual inquiry.
John Esposito is survived by his wife of 61 years, Jean Esposito, his partner and primary supporter in all his endeavors.
Details of his funeral ceremony and a future memorial service at Georgetown will be announced in due course.