Joel Beinin

Biography

Joel Beinin (born 1948) is the Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East history at Stanford University. From 2006 to 2008 he served as director of Middle East studies and professor of history at the American University in Cairo. Beinin was raised as a Zionist in a secular American Jewish family. On graduating from high school, he spent six months working on a kibbutz, where he met his future wife. He studied Arabic at university, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University in 1970. He spent the summer of 1969 studying Arabic at the American University in Cairo. Intending to move to Israel permanently, he joined other members of Hashomer Ha...