Dr. Sercan Canbolat is currently the inaugural director of Abrahamic Programs at the University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Global Affairs and a post-doctoral lecturer at UConn’s Department of Political Science. Born and raised in Turkey, Dr. Canbolat obtained two BA degrees in International Relations and Economics from Izmir University of Economics in 2011. He earned his MA degrees in International Relations and Political Science respectively from Bilkent University in 2014 and the University of Connecticut in 2017. Dr. Canbolat received a Fulbright scholarship in 2014 to continue his doctoral studies in the US. Dr. Canbolat has recently graduated from the University of Connecticut with a PhD in Political Science whose doctoral dissertation focuses on the patterns of organizational formation and leadership styles of militant organizations in the Middle East and North Africa. His scholarly works are featured and/or forthcoming in prestigious scholarly outlets including International Studies Review, Political Research Quarterly, Polity, Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, and Journal of International Relations (Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi). Dr. Canbolat’s book, co-authored with Dr. Özgür Özdamar, titled Leaders in the Middle East and North Africa: How Ideology Shapes Foreign Policy is slated to be published in September 2023 by Cambridge University Press. Dr. Canbolat is currently serving as one of the guest editors of a special issue (along with Dr. Patrick James and Dr. Sarah Gansen) entitled “Visualization and International Relations in the Digital Age” for the Journal of International Relations. He and his co-authors earned the “Polity Prize” in 2018, which is conferred on the best research article published in the journal’s previous volume. Dr. Canbolat received the ISA—Midwest Region’s 2020 “Margaret G. Hermann Award” for a paper he presented in St. Louis in November 2019. The paper was entitled “Understanding Extreme Islamists in Their Native Language.” The award is given for the best use of text analysis in leadership studies. He obtained the “Margaret G. Hermann Award” two years in a row in 2021 for his paper titled “Deciphering Political Islamists’ Rhetoric in Their Native Language: ATurkish Operational Code Analysis Approach.” Dr. Canbolat also earned the “University Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award” from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Connecticut in 2020.