Imam Quaiser Abdullah, Ph.D.
Board Chair
Quaiser Abdullah, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Communication and Social Influence department in Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. He teaches courses on conflict resolution, mediation, conflict in educational systems, interpersonal communication, leadership development and organizational development and assessment at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Quaiser earned his Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Religion, with a minor in Asian Studies. He then went on to earn a Master’s degree in Adult Learning and Organizational Development and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology.
Quaiser’s research interests center around identity and conflict, leadership and conflict management and religious identity. He authored the chapter entitled “Muslim Leader Formation and Education,” published by SAGE in the Religious Leadership: A Reference Handbook (2012). His chapter, “Daanaa Abdullah: Exemplar of Community Leadership” was published in Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership: Reclaiming School Reform, in 2015 by Routledge. He has a number of published interviews on the topic of religion and identity in public spaces in various news media. He is also a frequent guest presenter to local and national audiences on topics relating to Islam, identity and conflict.
Quaiser is a scholar with the Institute for Social Policy (ISPU) and a recipient of the Trailblazer Award from the Muslim Wellness Foundation. He is a member of the Mayor’s Commission on Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs in Philadelphia, a board member with the Association for Conflict Resolution, the faculty advisor for the Muslim Student Association at Temple, a board member of the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia and serves as a Police Chaplain for the 18th District in the Philadelphia Police Department. In 2020, Quaiser was called as an expert witness to discuss verbal aggression and violence as it relates to police officers who have been disciplined for engaging in verbally aggressive communication. Quaiser’s most current project is as a co-convener of the new Muslim Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform established in 2020 in Philadelphia. Quaiser continues to serve in other organizations locally and nationally.
Quaiser is the president of Statera Coaching and Leadership Consulting, LLC. Statera Coaching is a private company that focuses on leadership training, conflict resolution, professional and conflict coaching and organizational development. Quaiser is a certified Conflict Resolution in Education trainer, professional coach, conflict coach, Positive Discipline Educator and a trained mediator in the area of Transformative Mediation, with a focus on family, divorce and custody mediation.