(PhD, University of Washington) is a professor in the University of Michigan (U-M)'s Department of Communication and Media Studies and director of its ION Applied Research Lab (Inter-Organizational Networks Lab). His data analytics lab and international field research address the impacts of global ICT networks and infrastructures on development and innovation in the MENA and Asia-Pacific and have been supported and funded by the U-M Institute for Social Research, the U-M International Institute, and the U-M Business Engagement Centre. Dr. Hussain's books and publications have been cited over 5,000 times across interdisciplinary social science and humanities fields and include “Democracy's Fourth Wave? Digital Media and the Arab Spring” (Oxford University Press), “State Power 2.0: Authoritarian Entrenchment and Political Engagement Worldwide” (Ashgate/Routledge Press), and articles in The Journal of Democracy, The Journal of International Affairs, The Brookings Institutions’ Issues in Technology and Innovation, and others. At Michigan's International Institute, Hussain was appointed to serve as the inaugural Associate Director of the Global Islamic Studies Center (2018-2023), Associate Director of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies (2021–23), and Executive Member of its new MA in Regional and International Studies (MIRS) programme (2019–2023), where he founded and established a new international and interdisciplinary education programme bridging traditional liberal arts education with international and cross-cultural field engagement and applied immersion experiences.