The Middle East Section’s 2018 Distinguished Scholar Award was awarded in memoriam to Dr. Saba Mahmood (1962-2018). Dr. Mahmood published groundbreaking work in feminist anthropology, religion, and secularism, particularly in Egypt. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1998 and taught at the University of California, Berkeley, since 2004. She received numerous honors and awards and was the author of several notable books, including Religious Difference in a Secular Age: A Minority Report (Princeton University Press, 2015) and Politics of Piety: the Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject (Princeton University Press, 2005).