Author and co-editor of four books, including "Memories of Absence: How Muslims Remember Jews in Morocco," and "The Holocaust and North Africa," Boum is also a faculty member at the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies, where he launched a new program in Moroccan Jewish Studies, a statement from the American university said.

"I consider this appointment an honor, an opportunity and an obligation," he said. "It is an honor because it is one of the most important chairs in Sephardic studies in the United States."

"It is an opportunity because it will allow me to push the boundaries of research in this field to deepen the perspective of Muslim-Jewish relations," he continued. "And it's an obligation to add to the incredibly rich work being done in this field by the faculty and students around the world and here at UCLA."

As a storyteller and lover of literature, Boum is deeply inspired by the character studies and finely crafted plots of classic novels, the UCLA website states.