18 Facts About Adam Habib

Adam Mahomed Habib was born on 1965 and is a South African academic administrator serving as Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London since 1 January 2021.

Adam Habib is a former deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg.

Adam Habib has held academic appointments at the Universities of Durban-Westville and KwaZulu-Natal and the Human Sciences Research Council.

Adam Habib has served as co-editor of both the social science academic journal Transformation and the official disciplinary journal of the South African Association of Political Science, Politkon.

Adam Habib sits on the editorial boards of Voluntas and the South African Labour Bulletin.

Adam Habib has served on a number of boards and councils including those of the University of Durban-Westville, the Durban University of Technology, the International Society for Third-Sector Research, Sangonet, the Centre for Public Participation, and the Centre for Policy Studies.

Adam Habib has published numerous edited books, book chapters and journal articles in the thematic areas of democratisation and its consolidation in South Africa, contemporary social movements, philanthropy, giving and its impact on poverty alleviation and development, institutional reform, changing identities and their evolution in the post-apartheid era, and South Africa's role in Africa and beyond.

Adam Habib is a well-known public figure in South Africa whose opinions are often sought by both the print and broadcast media.

In February 2020, it was announced that Adam Habib would succeed Valerie Amos as director of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London as of 1 January 2021.

In October 2006, while on a trip with colleagues from the Human Sciences Research Council, Habib was deported when he flew into John F Kennedy Airport in the US.

Adam Habib had studied in New York, and he had made numerous trips to New York previously.

The American Civil Liberties Union tried to aid Adam Habib in learning the reasons why he was barred.

On 20 January 2010, the American State Department decided, in a document signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to lift the ban that prohibited Adam Habib from entering the United States.

Police were not previously allowed to enter the campus under South African legal precedent, and this was used by Adam Habib to justify the presence of private bodies armed with batons and riot shields on campus [1], who have been criticised by the apartheid-era political prisoner Sipho Singiswa as "militia members mostly in the employment and control of former apartheid security force officers who include members of apartheid 'Death Squad' commandos".

In March 2021, Adam Habib stepped aside from his position as Director of SOAS, as an investigation was launched into his use of a racial slur during an online meeting with a group of students.

Adam Habib used the word himself when he was responding to student concerns about faculty at SOAS using the word.

Adam Habib subsequently apologised for his use of the term in the meeting.

An investigation by SOAS found that his use of the word did not necessarily constitute racism and noted that Adam Habib had apologised and admitted he should not have uttered the term in full.