Robinson is a second-year Ph.D. student whose primary research focuses on social media and the Arab Spring, combining his background in Arabic and Islamic Studies.  He currently works as a Teaching Assistant for the Social Media course (LIS 4380) and also works 10 hours at the Goldstein Library.

The George Atiyeh Prize was founded by the Middle East Librarians Association in 1999 to honor George N. Atiyeh, retired Head of the Near East Section of the Library Congress, founding member of MELA and of the Middle East Microform Project, for his many contributions to Middle East librarianship and scholarship.  Awardees receive a cash award in addition to their registration fees covered for both the MELA and MESA annual conferences.

The focus of MELA is to facilitate communication among members through meetings and publications; to improve the quality of area librarianship through the development of standards for the profession and education of Middle East library specialists; to compile and disseminate information concerning Middle East libraries and collections and to represent the judgment of the members in matters affecting them.  This Association also encourages cooperation among members and Middle East libraries, especially in the acquisition of materials and the development of bibliographic control; to cooperate with other library and area organizations in projects of mutual concern and benefit; to promote research in and development of indexing and automated techniques as applied to Middle East materials.