John Joseph (historian)

John B. Joseph (September 1, 1923 – September 1, 2020) was an Assyrian-American educator and historian of Middle Eastern studies. He taught courses on the history of the Middle East and its relationship with the West at Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1961 to 1988.

Joseph was born in Iraq in September 1923. He was the son of refugees from the Assyrian genocide in pre-Iran Persia, John B. (Benjamin) Joseph attended the American School for Boys in Baghdad. Pennsylvania missionary Calvin Staudt founded the school with his wife Ida. He occasionally sent students to his alma mater, F&M. Joseph arrived in 1946, received his degree from F&M in 1950, and subsequently earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University. In his long teaching career at F&M, he inspired many students, including business executive Andrew Schindler, class of 1972, who contributed the leading sum for the construction of the "John Joseph International Center" at F&M, dedicated to the study of the world's languages, culture, history and politics. Following his retirement from full-time teaching, Joseph has held the title of Lewis Audenreid Professor Emeritus of History.

He died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on his 97th birthday in September 2020.