Professor Mohamad Abdalla is one of Australia's most prominent Muslim leaders. Over the last 15 years, he played a leading role in establishing Islamic Studies (Research and Teaching) as an academic area of study in Australia, including securing $8m to establish the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (NCEIS), a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Griffith University and the University of Western Sydney. Professor Abdalla has been a guest of Victoria University's Faculty of Education in the past week.