FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA, October 19, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Daniel N. Crecelius with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Crecelius celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Dr. Crecelius is recognized as an established member in academia for his expertise in Middle East history and for his devotion to his students. He began his career at California State University, Los Angeles in 1964, served as an assistant professor from 1964 to 1968, as associate professor from 1968 to 1973, and as professor since 1973. He has held the position of professor emeritus of history at California State University, Los Angeles since retirement in 2001. He served as chairperson of his department from 1980 to 1983 and from 1998 to 2001. Outside of his career at his university, he taught a graduate course, in Arabic, on the history of Ottoman Egypt at Cairo University in 1992, and courses in Middle East history at Colorado College in 1990, and at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1966-1967.
Dr. Crecelius completed his MA (1962) and PhD (1967) in Middle East Studies from Princeton University after obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado College in 1959. He published 50 scholarly articles, 11 chapters in books of conference papers, and two books on Ottoman Egypt, including "The Roots of Modern Egypt." He is the co-editor of four books of conference papers in Arabic and English as well as being co-editor and co-translator of four Arabic manuscripts relating to the 18th and 19th century history of Egypt. His research on such topics as waqf, the 'ulama', the mamluks, and Arabic manuscript histories of Egypt is well known. His researched studies have been published in English, German, French and Arabic. Selections of these studies have been translated into Indonesian, Farsi, Hebrew, Turkish and Russian. Some of these publications are required reading in graduate courses in Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian universities. He is a member of the Middle East Studies Association, the Middle East Institute, the Turkish Studies Association, the American Research Center in Egypt, the American Research Institute in Turkey, Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu, and Phi Kappa Phi.
Dr. Crecelius has received numerous awards and grants to sustain his research in archival collections in London, Paris, Vienna, Istanbul, Beirut, Cairo, Tunis, Rabat, and Jakarta. His graduate training at Princeton University was supported by grants from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (1959-60), the Ford Foundation (1960-61), Princeton University (1961-62), by a Fulbright grant to al-Azhar University in Cairo (1962-63), and by a National Defense Foreign Language award (1963-64) for study at the American University in Beirut. His post-doctoral research into the Ottoman history of Egypt was sustained over many years by multiple grants from such agencies as the Fulbright Foundation (1977-78 to Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia for the study of Acehnese sarakatas; 1991-92 to Turkey and Egypt; and 1995-96 to Egypt), The American Research Center in Egypt (1968-69, 1972, 1984, 1987), the Social Science Research Council (1973), the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1973 for research in Cairo, Tunis and Rabat), the American Philosophical Society (1975, 1980, 1989), the National Endowment for the Humanities (1980-84 for his part in translating the lengthy manuscript history of the 18th - 19th century Egyptian historian al-Jabarti), and the California State University, Los Angeles Foundation. For the excellence of his research and teaching California State University commended him with the Outstanding Professor Award in 1974 and an Outstanding Student Organization Advisor Award in 2002. He is also featured in Who's Who in American Education and numerous editions of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the West, and Who's Who in the World.
Dr. Crecelius was encouraged by his professors at Colorado College to pursue an academic career when, as a sophomore, he was selected to tour the Middle East with a group of American college students during the summer of 1957. He was fascinated with the Middle East and realized that this career path could provide the opportunity to immerse himself entirely in Middle East culture, to advance knowledge of this region and enhance the careers of prospective students in that field. He thus became one of the cadre of young American scholars at Middle East studies programs created at a handful of American universities in the 1950s and 1960s. This career choice opened the door to a variety of exciting opportunities and experiences that have structured his world view. Through years of study abroad he became very comfortable living and working in the Middle East. He lived abroad for 17 years, spending a cumulative 13 years in Cairo, where he became familiar with many of Egypt's political and cultural leaders of the late 20th century and collaborated on joint research projects with a small group of Egyptian colleagues from various Egyptian universities during often difficult political times.
Dr. Crecelius attributes his success to embracing his opportunities to travel, his persistence in learning Arabic, and his respect for the culture of others. He believes that life is more meaningful when one respects other people's views and culture and when one can move freely and comfortably in more than one culture. To this end, he worked closely with Egyptian scholars to co-host, under Fulbright auspices, four international conferences in Cairo on the history of Ottoman Egypt, cultivated his relations with Egypt's religious leaders, whether from the circle of al-Azhar scholars or from the Muslim Brotherhood, spent many nights attending the mystical celebrations of numerous Sufi orders in Cairo, and was responsible over his career for hosting a total of eight Egyptian scholars, once again under Fulbright auspices, who undertook joint research with him at his home university. He lectured, by invitation, at numerous Islamic institutes throughout Indonesia in 1978, and is known for his ability to work with Muslim scholars across the Islamic world.
Dr. Crecelius has been married to Dr. Anahid Tashjian of Aleppo, Syria since 1963. They have one daughter, Gia Maria. In his spare time, he enjoys travelling, hiking, and birdwatching.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Dr. Crecelius has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.Itachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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