Ronald A. Messier December 8, 1944 – September 2, 2021. Ron is survived by his wife Emily, his children Samantha and Ben, his stepchildren Alex, Missy, and Jody Ruffner, his granddaughter Mary Elizabeth Ruffner, and his brother Robert Messier.
He was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro, TN since 1983.
He was Professor Emeritus in History at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) where he taught Islamic history and historical archaeology from 1972 to 2004. He was director of the Honors Program from 1982 to 1992. He was also a Senior Lecturer at Vanderbilt University from 1992 to 2008. He received his MA and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He has won several teaching awards including the MTSU Outstanding Teacher Award: 1976; MTSU Outstanding Honors Faculty Award: 1978; CASE Tennessee Professor of the Year Award for 1993.
From 1987 to 1998, he directed the excavation of the ancient city of Sijilmasa in Morocco. In recognition of that work, he received MTSU’s prestigious Outstanding Research Award in 1997. From 2005 to 2020, he codirected an archaeology project at Aghmat, near Marrakech, Morocco.
Ron served as President of the Southeast Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Seminar (SERMEISS) from 2008-2012. He served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Atlantic Institute of Tennessee from 2008- present.
Since 1992, he has been the lecturer for over forty study tours including twelve tours to Morocco, five to Israel, five to Spain, three to Syria and Jordan, three to Egypt, three to Tunisia, three to Turkey, one to Oman, and two to Mali and Timbuktu.
He published over two dozen articles in academic journals; he co-edited with Hadia Dajani-Shakeel a book entitled Jihad and its Times. His recent publications include The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad; Jesus, One Man Two Faiths: A Dialogue between Christians and Muslims; and The Last Civilized Place: Sijilmasa and its Saharan Destiny, co-authored with James A. Miller, which won the L. Carl Brown AIMS Book Prize in North African Studies for 2016. In 2020, he published a historical novel, The Mapmaker, and the Pope.
A note from Ron: Rather than being remembered for anything I have done; I would like to be remembered for who I am—your friend.
A Memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm Wednesday, October 27, 2021, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 116 N Academy St, Murfreesboro 37130. An online guestbook is available for the Messier family at www.woodfinchapel.com
