Dr. Anan Ameri

Dr. Anan Ameri is an activist, scholar, author, and the founding director of the Arab American National Museum (AANM), the Palestine Aid Society of America; and the co-founder of many progressive coalitions in the US. For over four decades, Ameri has advocated for social justice and for immigrants’ rights.

Born in Damascus, Syria to a Palestinian father and a Syrian mother. She grew up in Amman, Jordan, and received her B.A. at the University of Jordan; her M.A. at Cairo University; and her PhD in sociology at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.

Ameri is the recipient of numerous local and national awards in recognition of her work within the Arab American community and society at large including 2006 Michiganian of the Year and the 2020 Arab American of the Year. In 2016, she was inducted to Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.

Ameri has served as acting director of the Institute for Jerusalem Studies in Jerusalem; visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies; the Founding Director and National President of the Palestine Aid Society of America, and the Founding Director of the Arab American National Museum. Prior to immigrating to the US, she worked as a program producer at Jordan Television and a researcher at the Palestine Research Center in Beirut, Lebanon.

Anan Ameri is author of numerous books and articles including a two-volume memoir; The Scent of Jasmine: Coming of Age in Jerusalem and Damascus (2017, Interlink Publishing) and The Wondering Palestinian, (2020, BHC Press).