Treasury taps first Islam finance scholar

WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Wednesday appointed its first Islamic finance scholar-in-residence.

Mahmoud El-Gamal will serve as a principal adviser on Islamic finance to senior Treasury officials, and he will work with international organizations that are seeking to create standards for and monitor Islamic finance, Treasury said.

The scholar will promote broader awareness of Islamic finance practices internationally and domestically for U.S. policymakers, Treasury said.

El-Gamal is a professor of Islamic economics at Rice University.