of Management Sciences. Jalal sued Columbia University alleging bias after her tenure review for a professorship was declined in 1995. The suit was dismissed for lack of evidence of discrimination. Ayesha Jalal is among the most prominent American academics who write on the history of South Asia. In her book, The Sole Spokesman (Cambridge University Press, 1985 and 1994), Jalal gives her perspective of what happened in the years between the 1937 elections in British India and the Partition of the Indian subcontinent, identifying the factors which led to the creation of Pakistan and provides new insights into the nature of the British transfer of power in India. In particular, she focuses on the role of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of All-India Muslim League, and the main proponent of the Two Nation Theory on which the demand for Pakistan was based. Jinnah claimed to be the sole spokesman of all the Indian Muslims, not only in provinces where they were in a majority but also in the provinces where they were in a minority. Yet given the political geography of the subcontinent, it was clear that there would always be as many Muslims outside a specifically Muslim state as inside it. This book investigates how Jinnah proposed to resolve the contradiction between assertions of a "separate Muslim nation" and the need for a strategy which could safeguard the interests of all Indian Muslims. It does so by identifying Jinnah's real political aims, the reasons why he was reluctant to bring them into the open, and his success or failure in achieving them. Awards A leading historian of Pakistan as well as South Asia, Ayesha Jalal has received numerous awards and acknowledgements: Trinity College, Cambridge Fellowship (1980–84) MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1998-2003) Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Distinction) by the President of Pakistan in 2009. Praise The Hindu, a newspaper of record in India, calls her, "...one of Pakistan's most acclaimed historians..." The Express Tribune, a Pakistani newspaper states, "...Jalal is revered globally as a historian of meticulous methods." On April 16, 2016, Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistani ambassador to the UN, said that she was “the greatest historian Pakistan has produced.” Books First published 1985. Chapters in books References External links Ayesha Jalal profile on Tufts University website 1956 births Living people Columbia University faculty Historians of South Asia MacArthur Fellows Harvard University alumni Punjabi academics Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Pakistani emigrants to the United