Harvard Law Review elects first Muslim president

Hassaan Shahawy becomes the 135th editor of the journal

Hassaan Shahawy has been elected as the first Muslim president of the Harvard Law Review. Reuters

The Harvard Law Review, the prestigious publication of Harvard Law School that launched in 1887, has just elected what is believed to be its first ever Muslim editor.

Is has named 26-year-old Egyptian-American Hassaan Shahawy as its new president, marking an important new milestone. Speaking to Reuters, Shahawy explained that he hoped the move cemented "legal academia's growing recognition of the importance of diversity."

As the new president of what is considered one the most respected journals in America, Shahawy is following in some illustrious footsteps. In 1990 former US President Barak Obama became the first black man to helm the title, while the late US Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the sole woman on the board of editors from 1957-58. Three current serving members of the US Supreme Court have also acted as the journal's president.

Expressing his hope his election will spark a new era of understanding, Shahawy explained that "coming from a community  routinely demonised in American public discourse, I hope this represents some progress, even if small and symbolic."

Having graduated from Harvard in 2016 with a degree in History and Near Eastern Studies, Shahawy then attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, for a doctorate in Oriental Studies and Islamic Law.