Maine professor is specialist on the spot

But it is here, at the University of New England, that the international media have in recent weeks come looking for one man: Professor Ali Ahmida, a native of Libya, an authority on North Africa, and the founding chairman of the political science department.

From his modest, cement-walled office, with its view of wheeling seagulls and the Saco River, Ahmida, 56, has fielded hundreds of questions from journalists this month. Since Libyan rebels challenged the four-decade rule of Moammar Khadafy, his insights on the conflict have been sought by media on five continents; in this country, they have aired on CNN, NPR, and PBS and in the pages of The New York Times.

The sudden spotlight has temporarily transformed his life, upending his schedule and spurring sales of his books, even inspiring him to buy a new purple tie for his appearances.

It has also presented him with an opportunity to shape public opinion about the place where he grew up and where his family still lives.

“It’s not about academic celebrity — I don’t care about that,’’ he says. “I want to encourage people to think in a different way, to empathize with ordinary people there.’’

His popularity is partly a product of simple supply and demand: Because strained US-Libyan relations have limited accessibility, fewer researchers have focused on the country.

Ahmida also offers an appealing mix, with personal connections that enliven his expertise. His friends include Libyans involved in the uprising as well as diplomats, including the Libyan ambassador to the United Nations.

As he helps the public make sense of the story, Ahmida is also raising the profile of the college that hired him 17 years ago to build his department from scratch. It is a school of about 6,800 students where the most popular major is biomedical sciences and a new dental school is scheduled to open next year.

The university is not among the region’s most selective and has long been overshadowed by more prestigious schools. But Elizabeth DeWolfe, the chairwoman of its history department, said its undergraduate programs have grown stronger, and Ahmida’s public profile will help to spread the word.

“When he’s recognized by the national press, that helps our students and the reputation of the university,’’ she said. “Poor Ali is bearing it on his shoulders right now, but tired as he is, I think he sees it as a point of pride.’’

During an interview last week with an online magazine, Ahmida sat calmly on the couch in his office, his hands clasped in his lap, easily handling rapid-fire questions about the latest military movements and the future of democracy in his native country.

His only concern, before the interrogation began, was about his laptop Skype connection.

“Stick around!’’ he begged the technician who had set it up. “What if we need you?’’

Quick, charismatic, and generous (“I’m all yours,’’ he promises as an interview begins), the professor leaves his office door open and flags down passing students with an enthusiastic “Hey!’’

In quieter moments, he admits he is weary from weeks of tracking the conflict, juggling interviews, and worrying about his family in Libya.

His perspective on recent events is steeped in his past. His grandfather was a teenage freedom fighter who resisted Italian fascist rule in the early 20th century; his grandmother died in exile in Chad. During 10 trips to Libya in the past decade, he said, he has interviewed 150 aging survivors of Italian concentration camps.

In an op-ed for the New York Times this month, he described how modern Libyan rebels including lawyers, judges, and women’s rights activists have reclaimed and repurposed the anticolonial sentiment of the past.

“What is most striking about the rhetoric of the rebellion is how the anticolonialist theme that Colonel Khadafy once deployed has been turned against him,’’ wrote Ahmida.

Raised in a small town in central Libya, Ahmida was one of the country’s 10 best students when he graduated high school. Sent to college in Cairo by the Libyan government, he became active in politics and challenged Khadafy’s regime; as a result, he said, he was barred from attending graduate school until a family friend intervened.

He chose Seattle for his studies on a whim and arrived at 23 knowing only rudimentary English, he said. He spent six months in grammar drills, seven hours a day, before enrolling at the University of Washington, where he stayed for nine years, earning a master’s degree and a doctorate in political science.

He came to Maine in 1994, after three years teaching in Walla Walla, Wash. He published his first book, “The Making of Modern Libya,’’ the same year.

He credits Maine’s harsh climate with fostering his prolific output since.

“The pace of life here, the long winters, allowed me to deepen my research,’’ he said. “This is the gift of Maine to me.’’

A poet and short-story writer as well as a historian, Ahmida has published fiction in Arabic and prides himself on integrating culture with history and politics. His current course for freshmen uses films to explore gender and nationalism.

He is a demanding teacher and says his students have threatened to make him a T-shirt emblazoned with one of his favorite sayings, “NO FLUFF.’’ To reward students who “shine,’’ he cooks them dinner, which might include his famous couscous or seafood fettuccine.

Joe Bussiere, 22, a senior from Amherst, Mass., said he was skeptical his first year when Ahmida included Libyan geography on a midterm exam. “I was like, what is the purpose here?’’ he said. Now, Bussiere sees “a method to his madness. . . . It opened our minds up a little bit.’’

Ahmida jokes that his wife, Beth, a former figure skater who was an alternate for the 1980 US Olympic team, is more famous than he is. His son and daughter, ages 10 and 12, were born in Maine and are “true Mainers,’’ he said proudly.

The professor is proud of the fight being waged in Libya, but his excitement is mixed with worry about the safety of his family and the country’s future.

“Revolution is just one half,’’ he says. “How to build democracy — that’s the second battle.’’

Jenna Russell can be reached at jrussell@globe.com.