Amra Sabic-El-Rayess is an Associate Professor of Practice at Columbia University's Graduate School of Education, Health, and Psychology. Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess has taught, researched, and published extensively on various educational issues, with a particular focus on resilience to hate. She has delivered over 200 keynotes, lectures, and presentations in 25 countries and has been awarded nearly $11 million in research funding to date. Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess is the recipient of the 2021 Vecernjakov Pecat in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in recognition of her contributions toward peace.

Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess first became a teacher as a teenager during the Bosnian Genocide. In a letter written by President Joe Biden, he said, “I am inspired by the bravery and strength you have shown in the face of heartbreaking tragedy and persecution.” Reflecting on her award-winning and critically acclaimed memoir The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival (Bloomsbury, 2020), the President described her as “the very idea of America” itself. Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess was awarded the 2021 Finalist Medal for Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction by the American Library Association, as well as recognition from School Library Journal, Malala Fund, Capitol Choices, and the Children’s Center for Literature. Her memoir explores resilience in the face of targeted violence and hate, and it has become a defining text on empowerment through education, integrated into K-12 curricula and higher education courses across the United States.

Her most recent memoir, Three Summers: A Memoir of Sisterhood, Summer Crushes, and Growing Up on the Eve of War (Macmillan Publishers-FSG, 2024), chronicles a story of sisterhood and resilience in the three years leading up to the Bosnian Genocide. Three Summers has been selected as a Best Book of 2024 by School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews and has received Gold Standard recognition from the Junior Library Guild.

In 2023, Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess was elected President of Brown University’s Alumni Association and became a Trustee of the Corporation of Brown University, making history as the first Muslim woman to serve in these roles in the university’s 260-year history. She has also served as a Board Director for the International Center for Transitional Justice, Tuxedo Park School, and Women’s March Global, and currently serves as a Board Director for the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation. Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess is a member of the American Association of University Professors, the World Association of International Studies, and the International Academy of Science and Art in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She also serves on the International Expert Council at the Institute for the Research of Genocide in Canada. Additionally, she was the Scientific Advisor to the Forward Project, an initiative funded by NATO and the European Parliament, aimed at addressing radicalization in multiethnic contexts.

Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess earned her Ph.D. in International and Comparative Education (2012), her Master of Philosophy (2010), and her Master of International and Public Affairs (2004) from Columbia University. She also holds a B.A. in Economics from Brown University (2000).