Professor Mehmet Asutay has been named the first-place winner of the 2024 Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Prize for Impactful Achievement in Islamic Economics, in honor of his significant and important contributions to Islamic economics and finance.
The prize winner is a professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Political Economy and Finance at Durham University in the United Kingdom. He is an internationally renowned academic who has published groundbreaking and influential scholarly works.
Professor Asutay was chosen for his innovative work on Islamic moral economics and the articulation of Islamic finance to promote sustainable development and human welfare.
This year’s prize cycle identifies, honors, and promotes important knowledge advances in Islamic economics that have the potential to address critical development concerns in IsDB member countries. The top prize winner will receive US$ 50,000, followed by US$ 30,000 and US$ 20,000 for the second and third place winners, respectively. However, the second and third-place rewards are not awarded this year.
Every year, an independent committee of specialists from outside the IsDB Group selects the winners of the IsDB Prize, with the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) coordinating the process.
In his remarks on the occasion, IsDB President H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser complimented the laureate on his significant knowledge contributions.
The winner of this year’s prize will be honored at the IsDB Group Annual Meetings, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from April 27 to April 30, 2024.
The following is the complete citation published by the prize selection committee:
- Professor Mehmet Asutay’s knowledge contributions emphasize reconstituting Islamic economics in the form of an Islamic moral economy by essentializing an extended stakeholder-based governance system to ensure the moral grounds of the economic system.
- An overall theme of the multidisciplinary research of Prof. Asutay relates to the articulation of Islamic finance to be supportive of sustainable development and the well-being of human beings. His empirical research resonates with and articulates the conceptual and theoretical reconstruction he attempts in his research.
- The original contributions of Prof. Asutay have tangible policy implications with practical applications in IsDB member countries and Muslim communities worldwide.
- In recognition of his novel work on Islamic moral economy, the IsDB Prize Selection Committee decided to award the IsDB Prize for Impactful Achievement in Islamic Economics, Knowledge Contribution Category 1445H (2024G), to Prof. Dr. Mehmet Asutay.
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