Departures of note

John Louis Esposito was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1940 to an Italian-American Catholic family. He earned a BA in philosophy from St Antony's College, Oxford, in 1963, an MA in theology from St John's University in 1966, and a doctorate from Temple University in 1974 with Islamic Studies as his major. His doctoral work was supervised by the influential Islamic scholar Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi.

Esposito began his academic career teaching religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, where he held the Loyola Professor of Middle East Studies position for nearly two decades. In 1988, he joined Georgetown University as a university professor of religion, international affairs, and Islamic studies. He founded the Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding at Georgetown in 1993 and served as its founding director, later named the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding following a $20 million endowment.

A prolific author and editor, Esposito published more than 35 books including Islam and Politics (1984) and Islam: The Straight Path (1988), both of which went through multiple editions. He edited major reference works including The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, and The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. He served as president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and the American Academy of Religion, and advised the PBS documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. He received the American Academy of Religion's Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion in 2005 and Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam Award for Outstanding Contributions in Islamic Studies.

Esposito died on July 15, 2026, in Philadelphia at the age of 86, due to complications from heart surgery. He was survived by his wife Jean Esposito, whom he married in 1965.