August 17, 2002
Source: The Boston Globe
On August 17, 2002 The Boston Globe reported that "Harvard University this week named the first Islamicist - and the first layman - to head its venerable divinity school... A professor of Middle Eastern studies and religion history, William A. Graham is a recognized authority on the Koran and early Islamic literature. He has also studied Hindu and Buddhist texts. He speaks Arabic, French, and German fluently and reads Greek, Latin, Dutch, Italian, Turkish, Persian, Sanskrit, and Pali, a Buddhist scriptural language."