Meet the CMI Team

Robert Nicholson

PRESIDENT & FOUNDER OF THE PHILOS PROJECT

Robert Nicholson is the President and Executive Director of The Philos Project. He is also co-founder and board member of Passages Israel, an advisory board member of In Defense of Christians, and an adjunct professor at The King’s College in New York City. He holds a BA in Hebrew Studies from Binghamton University, and a JD and MA in Middle Eastern history from Syracuse University. A former U.S Marine and a 2012-13 Tikvah Fellow, Robert founded Philos in 2014 to stimulate a new generation of religious and cultural exchange between the Near East and the West. His written work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, New York Post, Jerusalem Post, Newsweek, Providence, First Things, The Hill, and National Interest.

Liza Ashley

Associate Director

Liza Ashley is the Associate Director of the Charles Malik Institute. She holds a B.A. in Humanities from The King’s College. Before joining the Charles Malik Institute, she worked as a reporter covering topics in religion, ethics, and politics in a wide variety of publications including Newsweek, Religion News Service, and Religion Unplugged. During her tenure, she was awarded the Chandler Award from the Religion News Association, an EPPY Award from Editor&Publisher, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Associated Church Press, and others. She is an alumna of the Humanities at Hertog and the Philos Leadership Institute.

Habib Malik

CHARLES MALIK INSTITUTE SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW

Habib C. Malik is a Senior Research Fellow at The Philos Project, where his work focuses on mapping out Lebanon's current challenges and the best path forward for reform. He holds a BA degree in history from the American University of Beirut and a MA and doctorate from Harvard University in modern European intellectual history. He has taught in universities in Lebanon and in Washington, DC for over 3 decades; and is an Associate Professor of History at Lebanese American University (currently retired) where he taught history, cultural studies, and occasional graduate seminars in political science. Habib also researches his late father, Dr. Charles Malik’s archives at the Library of Congress in Washington and works on preparing for publication a massive unpublished diary by same.