CCAS Mourns the Passing of Dr. Barbara Stowasser

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Barbara Freyer Stowasser on Sunday, May 13, 2012, at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. She was surrounded by friends and family. Dr. Stowasser was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies from 1994 to 2012 (though her service to Georgetown University extends back to 1966 when she began lecturing in the Arabic Department), holder of the Sultanate of Oman Chair in Arabic and Islamic Literature at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, a core member of the faculty of CCAS, and thrice director of the Center. Dr. Stowasser was a leading world scholar in studies of women in the Qur'an and hadith, and a colleague of rare intellect, compassion, and humor. Her expertise and influence shall be sorely missed.

The family has expressed its wish to hold a memorial service at Georgetown University in the late summer or early fall, and details shall be forthcoming. The faculty, staff, and students of CCAS express our deepest sympathies with her family, grieving her loss at this time.

Those who wish to share memories of Dr. Stowasser are invited to do so below.

Persis Berlekamp

Of all the professors who trained me, Barbara Stowasser is one of the ones I think of most often as a role model now that I am professor myself. In particular, I deeply admired the thoughtful and intellectually honest way in which she answered questions. She really listened and tried to understand what was being asked before she started to answer. If she did not know the answer, she said so. If the question was not well formulated, or if she thought the answer to a closely related question might be of interest, she would take the time to explain the relationship between the question as it was asked and the question to which she had an interesting answer, before launching into the answer to the related question. And then, when she got into her answer, she demonstrated time and again how intellectual breadth and depth need not be seen as conflicting goals, but can instead enhance each other.

I also adored her for her sudden quirky laugh, and for her sense of compassion.

May her family know how deeply she will be missed, far beyond Georgetown.

Persis Berlekamp, MAAS ‘94 Associate Professor of Art History The University of Chicago

May 14, 2012 at 5:53 pm
E. Daoust

I knew Dr. Stowasser as the parent of a student who highly respected and liked her. Barbara had the wonderful combination of intellect, humanity, personal warmth, and interesting thinking and conversation. She will be missed in so many ways, personally and academically. Although I did not know Dr. Stowasser well, I feel a great loss in her death. I am very fortunate to have met her. My prayers are for Dr. Stowasser and her family.

May 14, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Ann Birkelbach

I knew Barbara, Dr. Stowasser as my supervisor during my time at CCAS as Assistant Director of the Center 2001-2002. During our brief time together, her vision, leadership and fine political acumen advanced the Center’s stature and reputation worldwide as a leading Center for Arab Studies. I also remember her kindness during Christmastime with her thoughtfully picked out gifts for our staff members. We had interesting conversations on many topics and I was always keenly interested in her opinion and advice on a variety of issues. I am sorry I did not have a chance to visit with her once more before she passed away. My condolences go out to her family and friends and esteemed colleagues at Georgetown. She will be missed as a woman of great accomplishments in her lifetime.

May 16, 2012 at 10:41 am
Dale Dean

I was very sorry to hear of Dr. Stowasser’s passing. I remember her as a person of warmth and humor, as well as a person of great intellect. CCAS has lost a great colleague and friend.

May 17, 2012 at 11:52 am
Diana Lewis

I knew Dr.Barbara Stowasser only as Barbara or Babs as we called her. My daughter (Jill) is married to her youngest son (Mike), we live in Manhattan, Montana under the big sky. Where Babs would visit each August and help with the Potator Festival Parade, ride the range in her son’s pickup across wide prairies, enjoying views of the rocky mountains and clear streams. She loved her grandchildren and marveled at how fast they grew between each visit. We will all miss her visits, although she never spoke of her accomplishments. We missed the chance to exployer her many talents.

May 18, 2012 at 7:44 pm
Bob Cavanaugh

I audited her course on Arabic Culture in 1966-67, which must have been her first year at GU. This was my introduction to Arabic history. She was very good at answering obvious questions that others ignored. But my most vivid impression was visiting her house with other students and finding out that her two young children called her “Ma’m.” Wow!

May 19, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Nadia

May she rest in peace! I was a student of hers at Georgetown a couple years back (c/o 2008). She was so lively even in her later years. She would delight in students’ paper topics, especially humored by a comparison of pre-Islamic Arabian poets to gangster rappers. She encouraged debate in her classroom and welcomed challenges to her own ideas even from naive undergrads like myself. We marveled at how she was the student of Hans Wehr and to this she would laugh at our amazement of her silsilah (chain of teaching). This is the first professor I have lost so far and it only makes me wish I had spent more time with her and expressed my gratitude during her lifetime. My heartfelt condolences to her family and colleagues.

May 22, 2012 at 9:08 am
James Martone

I am so saddened by the news of Professor Stowasser’s passing. I met her while I was still in high school and interested in Islam, more than thirty years ago. She mentored me and helped me get into Georgetown where I studied under her. Many years later we caught up in Egypt and spent a lovely day together in Dahshour, where our car broke down and we had to hitch a ride home in the back of a pickup truck. She was a wonderful contributor to the study of Islam and Arabic, and she was great fun. I am grateful to her for the many ways she and her writings have influenced my life.

Jun 5, 2012 at 11:16 pm