Shakeela Hassan MD
Shakeela Hassan MD, a University of Chicago Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, has made a life long commitment to promoting peaceful coexistence and understanding among different faith communities.
In 1999, Hassan left her work and position at the University of Chicago hospitals and turned to documentary films as a catalyst for unity and interfaith understanding. Her grassroots fundraising effort for the PBS documentary, “Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet,” made possible its national PBS Broadcast in 2002. She was co-executive producer of “Ties That Bind,” which aired on WTTW in 2004.
In partnership with noted journalist Bill Kurtis, Hassan’s Harran Productions Foundation is now producing “Sounds of Faith,” a three-part series exploring the connections between the sacred sounds and music of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for a national PBS broadcast. This will be a unique journey of sound experiences of the Abrahamic faiths to bring each faith constituent to act peacefully and justly with the other. The role of sound and music that enables humans to connect with God and each other is the premise and promise of her current work for peacemaking and respectful coexistence.
She is active in Chicago’s Islamic Foundation and serves on the boards of International Human Rights Law Institute, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago Theological Seminary, Lutheran School of Theology, and Lake Institute of Faith and Giving of the Indiana University Institute of Philanthropy, Hands of Peace, amongst others.
