The Scholar Rescue Fund is a program of the Institute of International Education (New York, NY) that works to help threatened scholars anywhere in the world find safe haven and continue their work … shining a light on those who terrorize and preserving the intellectual capital of humanity.

A special Iraq Scholar Rescue division has been set up to assist more than 150 senior scholars in Iraq whose lives and work are threatened. Iraqi’s Minister of Higher Education has identified hundreds of scholars with specific death threats against them. Some estimates put the number of number of Iraqi professors killed since 2003 at around 300, although the number could be much higher.

This new project provides fellowship assistance for threatened scholars through temporary academic positions at universities, colleges and other institutions of higher learning in the Middle East and North African regions (some exceptions are considered for other world regions).

Fellows are expected to teach, research or publish at host academic institutions and will be asked to continue to educate Iraqi students within and outside of Iraq. Through use of distance learning technologies, professors will be able to connect with their students back in Iraq while also working with displaced Iraqi students and students of the host country.

When conditions allow, scholars are expected to return home to rebuild universities and societies destroyed by conflicts. If safe return is not possible, the scholar may use the fellowship period to identify a longer-term opportunity.

Scholars from any country and any discipline may apply for fellowships to support temporary stays at institutions worldwide. A Scholar Rescue Fund Selection Committee reviews applications and awards fellowships.

The Institute of International Education was founded in 1919 and administers over 200 programs serving more than 20,000 individuals each year.

Information on their programs or donating to their nonprofit is available on their website.