Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura is a Sierra Leonean author, academic administrator, researcher, and scientist. He is arguably one of the world’s most educated men.
Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura holds a B.A. in International Studies, an M.A. in International Affairs, an M.S. in Linguistics, a Ph.D. in Political Science, a Ph.D. in Development Economics, a Ph.D. in Linguistics, a Ph.D. in Computer Science, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics. Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura has authored and/or edited 35 books and more than 250 scholarly articles. He speaks 17 languages: English, Temne, Mende, Krio, Fula, Kono, Limba, Sherbro, Kiswahili, Spanish, Italian, French, Arabic, Hebrew, German, and Swedish.
Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura was born on the 26th of August 1953, in Bo, Southern Province of Sierra Leone; the son of Alie Kunda Bangura and Fatmata Jalloh Bangura. His mother, Fatmata Jalloh Bangura came from a ruling family in Futa Djallon, and his father Alie Kunda Bangura is an ethnic Temne. His father was a scion of the Bangura Chiefs of Port Loko, Northern Sierra Leone, and was an engineer and a founding member of the All People’s Congress Party. On November 4, 1979, he married Diana Marie Kelly. They have two daughters – Fatmata Aminata Bangura and Isatu Ramatu Bangura. Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura, in an interview with CA, once said his late father inspired him to write, as he always fights against injustice and tyranny. He said: “My late father inspires my writing, as he taught me to always fight against injustice and tyranny and to promote the cause of the oppressed, depressed, repressed, and suppressed.”
Education
He attended the Independence Primary and Secondary School in Freetown, Sierra Leone before he went to the United States in the early 70s and went on to become a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. In the United States, he received an Associate degree from Northern Virginia Community College in 1978. In 1982, Dr. Bangura was given a Bachelor’s and a Master’s of Arts by American University, Washington, D.C., United States. In 1983, he was awarded a Master of Science degree by Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden.
Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura got a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Howard University in 1987, a Master of Science in Linguistics from Georgetown University in 1989, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Political Sciences from the University of Maryland in 1990, a Diploma in computer programming from Foley-Belsaw Institute in 1990, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Development Economics, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Computer Science from Columbus University, New Orleans in 1998, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mathematics.
Career
In 1975, Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura began his career in the US Army and Air Force Exchange Services as a services supervisor. He served as a manager in McDonald’s for a year (1979-1980). In 1986, Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura was appointed as a researcher at Brookings Institution – during that period he was an adjunct professor of business and marketing studies at Sojourner-Douglass College from 1986 to 1990. He was an adjunct professor at Howard University and at the same time a co-director of the Alcohol Intervention Institute from 1989 to 1992. He was appointed as a professorial lecturer for Howard University in 1998.
Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura began to work at National Education Center, Phoenix, Arizona, the United States as an instructor in business technologies and management. In 1993, he was appointed as an assistant professor of political science at Bowie State University, Maryland, United States. He remained in this position till 2000. Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura was a member of the Intergovernmental Relations Task Force in the Office of the Mayor of Washington, D.C., United States. He worked as a Schiff Summer Program Professor at Georgetown University, the United States from 1994 to 1996. In 1997, he became the coordinator of Topp’s Annual African-Centered Awards, Topps Gourmet Sauce Inc., Delaware City, Delaware, United States. In 1999, he was a professorial lecturer at the American University and a professor in International Relations in 2000. From 1999 to date Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura has been a researcher in residence at the Center for Global Peace, coordinator of Islamic lecture series, founding director of Center for Success, and a mentor for the Journal of Mentoring and Field Experience.
In 2000, Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura was the co-director of the International Communication and Negotiation Simulations Project at the University of Maryland, United States. He was also a member of the advisory board for the Center for Development and Security Analysis at Fourah Bah College – the University of Sierra Leone in 2005. He is also a professor of Research Methodology and Public Policy in the Department of Political Science, and coordinator of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research Initiative at Howard University, United States. He is a member of the African Studies Association, American Political Science Association, Linguistic Society American, Policy Studies Organization, African Students Association and Iradet, and many more.
Books Authored/Edited/Contributed
Minimizing a Person’s Chances of Becoming Intoxicated: A Handbook on Alcohol Awareness, Alcohol Intervention Institute (Silver Spring, MD), 1990.
Multilingualism and Diglossia in Sierra Leone, Brunswick Publishing (Lawrenceville, VA), 1991.
The Limitations of Survey Research Methods in Assessing the Problem of Minority Student Retention in Higher Education, Mellen Research University Press (San Francisco, CA), 1992.
Black Political Thought, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1994.
The Kipsigis, Rosen Publishing Group (New York, NY), 1994.
(Editor and contributor) Research Methodology and African Studies, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1994.
The Effects of United States Foreign Aid to Egypt, 1957-1987, Edwin Mellen Press (Lewiston, NY), 1994.
(With Dawit Isayas, Gerald Smith, and Michael Thomas) Political Behavior, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1996.
Political Presuppositions and Implicatures of the Most Popular African-American Hymns, Nova Science Publishers (New York, NY), 1996.
The Presuppositions and Implicatures of the Founding Fathers, Cummings & Hathaway (Larchmont, NY), 1997.
Ebonics Is Good, African Institution (Washington, DC), 1998, revised edition, 2000.
(With Michael O. Thomas) Bowie State University Alma Mater: Historical Context and Linguistic Presuppositions, African Institution (Washington, DC), 1998.
Chaos Theory and African Fractals, African Institution (Washington, DC), 2000.
Historical Political Economy of Washington, D.C., University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 2000.
Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone, 2nd edition, Scarecrow Press (Metuchen, NJ), 2001.
Computer Programming to Insure Project Accountability in Africa, Authors Choice Press (San Jose, CA), 2001.
(With Martin C. Muo) United States Congress and Bilingual Education, Peter Lang Publications (New York, NY), 2001.
(Editor and contributor) United States-African Relations: The Reagan-Bush Era, Peter Lang Publications (New York, NY), 2001.
(Editor) DC Vote: Fighting against Taxation without Representation, Writers Press (Lincoln, NE), 2002.
Mario Fenyo on the Third World, Writers Press (Lincoln, NE), 2002.
(Editor) Unpeaceful Metaphors, Writers Press (Lincoln, NE), 2002.
(With Mario Fenyo) Law and Politics at the Grassroots: A Case Study of Prince George’s County, Writers Press (San Jose, CA), 2003.
(Editor) Washington DC State of Affairs, Authors Choice Press (San Jose, CA), 2003.
The Holy Qur’an and Contemporary Issues, Authors Choice Press (San Jose, CA), 2003.
(With Abdul Aziz Said) The World of Islam: Country-by-Country Profiles, Pearson Custom Publishing (Boston, MA), 2004.
Islamic Sources of Peace, Pearson Custom Publishing (Boston, MA), 2004.
Surah Al-Fatihah, Authors Choice Press (San Jose, CA), 2004.
Sweden vs. Apartheid: Putting Morality Ahead of Profit, Ashgate Publishing (Burlington, VT), 2004.
(Editor) Islamic Peace Paradigms, Kendall/Hunt Publishing (Dubuque, IA), 2005.
(Editor) Peace Paradigms, Kendall/Hunt Publishing (Dubuque, IA), 2005.
(Editor) Introduction to Islam: A Sociological Perspective, Kendall/Hunt Publishing (Dubuque, IA), 2005.
Washington, DC’s Challenges, Publishers Choice Press (New York, NY), 2006.
Author of training manuals. Contributor to books, including Divisive Barbarity or Global Civilization: The Ethical Dimensions of Science, Art, Religion, and Politics, edited by M.L. Bradbury and Suheil Bushrui, University of Maryland Press (College Park, MD), 1996; Islam and Trade in Sierra Leone, edited by Alusine Jalloh and David Skinner, African World Press (Trenton, NJ), 1997; Perspectives on Contemporary Ethnic Conflict: Primal Violence or the Politics of Conviction?, edited by Santosh C. Saha, Lexington Books (Lanham, MD), 2006; Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies in West Africa: A Reader, edited by Shedrack Best, Spectrum Books (Ibadan, Nigeria), 2007; and The Politics of Ethnicity and National Identity, edited by Santosh C. Saha, Peter Lang Publishing (New York, NY), 2007. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Mabyala Review: Sierra Leone Literary and Social Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, Black Enterprise, Resources in Higher Education, Spectrum, Journal of Third World Studies, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, International Journal of Sierra Leone Studies & Reviews, Washington Post, and Africa Today. Editor in chief, African Journal of Languages and Linguistics and Journal of Research Methodology and African Studies, both 1996—; corresponding editor for African architecture and computational mathematics, Nexus Network Journal on Architecture and Mathematics, 2003.
Awards and Honors
Distinguished Scholar Award, Middle Atlantic Writers Association, 1995.
Certificate of achievement, Caribbean Association of Professionals and Scholars, 1996
Topp’s African-Centered awards, Topps Gourmet Sauce, Inc., 1997 and 1998
Certificate of appreciation, Japan-America Student Conference, 2000
African Studies and Research Forum, Africa Excellence in Scholarship Award, 2001
All African Award, 2002
Excellence in Scholarship and Service Award, 2006
Black History Month Lecture Award, Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 2002
Association of Third World Studies, Distinguished Leadership and Service Award, 2004
Outstanding Scholar Award, 2006
Dubai International Award, 2006
Grants from the U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation.