Abdul Karim Bangura is Putative Dean and Senior Mentor of the CODESRIA College of Mentors Institute based in Dakar, Senegal. He is also Researcher-in-Residence of Abrahamic Connections and Islamic Peace Studies at American University's Center for Global Peace in Washington DC. He has five PhDs in development economics, political science, linguistics, computer science, and mathematics. Bangura is the innovator of more than a dozen theories and research methodologies, and the author and editor of 116 books and 710 scholarly articles. He is the winner of more than 50 scholarly and community service awards and the current President of the African Studies and Research Forum. He has served as President and, later, United Nations Ambassador of the Association of Third World Studies. Bangura is also Special Envoy of the African Union Peace and Security Council and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Living Together.