Reza Aslan ’95, professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and best-selling author, has been named the recipient of the James Joyce Award and an Honorary Fellowship of the Literary & Historical Society, Europe’s largest university society. 

The James Joyce Award is given to those who have excelled in a field of human endeavor and have made a profound impact on the world around them. Recipients in recent years have included Salman Rushdie, Alan Rickman, Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky. 

Aslan is an internationally renowned author and scholar of religions. His books include the New York Times bestseller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth and international bestseller No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Washington Post, and he appears frequently on TV and radio shows as a religion and political analyst. He also is the host and executive producer of Ovation’s Rough Draft with Reza Aslan, and CNN’s upcoming documentary series, Believer.