Ayesha Jalal

Ayesha Jalal was a historian of South Asia who taught at the university until 1995, when she was controversially denied tenure.

Jalal opposed the establishment of a research institute that was to be funded by the Hindu nationalist Hinduja Group (this institute has since been closed). She accused the faculty of being uncomfortable with her, a Pakistani woman, teaching Indian history, and sued the university for religious and ethnic discrimination. A U.S. District Court called her allegations "thin but suggestive".

Jalal was an influence on then-graduate student Janaki Bakhle, who has since taken her place within the History Department.