Professor of Near Eastern Studies and Chair of the Department of Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies Franck Salameh is the author of the essay “And If He Were Here Today,” an encomium to scholar, teacher, and mentor Fouad Ajami. Salameh calls Ajami one of the pillars of Middle East studies. The essay is part of a Gedenkschrift published by the Hoover Institution to launch Ajami’s posthumous work Crosswinds. Salameh is the author of several works, including The Other Middle East and Lebanon’s Jewish Community: Fragments of Lives Arrested.