Janet Khan née Griffith (born October 25, 1940) is an Australian author who has published on the history and teachings of the BaháâÂÂàFaith and the correlation of BaháâÂÂàthought with contemporary social issues. Khan completed a doctorate in counselling at the University of Michigan and worked as an academic at the University of Michigan and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. From 1977 to 1984 Khan served as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the BaháâÂÂàFaith in Australia and as its Chair for several years. Khan served in the Research Department in the Holy Land, Haifa, Israel from 1983 to 2000 and was also a member of the International Advisory Board for the BaháâÂÂàChair for World Peace at the University of Maryland.
Janet Adrienne Khan was born in 1940. She completed a PhD in Education (Counselling) at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1970, and worked as a counsellor and program specialist at the universityâÂÂs Center for the Continuing Education of Women from 1970 to 1976.
Khan is the author or co-author of several books on the history and teachings of the BaháâÂÂàFaith. She served in the Research Department in the Holy Land, Haifa, Israel from 1983 to 2010 and her research interests include gender issues, the role of women in religion, aspects of social change, and the evolution of the Baha'i system of administration.
Khan has served in various roles for the Australian and International Bahá'àCommunity over many years. In 1966, Khan married fellow-Australian, Peter Khan (1936-2011), a well-known BaháâÂÂàand Fulbright Scholar and academic at the University of Michigan. He served as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the BaháâÂÂÃÂs of Australia from 1958 to 1963; and was elected to the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel; serving there from 1987 to 2010. During his stay in the United States, Dr Peter Khan served as a member of the Auxiliary Board for Propagation of the Baha'i Faith. While residing and working in the United States from 1966 to 1976, Khan and her husband travelled widely visiting BaháâÂÂàcommunities in North and Central America, and participated in BaháâÂÂàSummer Schools and Conferences. As a couple Khan and her husband developed esteemed reputations within the American Bahá'àcommunity for serving the Bahá'àFaith as informed teachers and speakers. Both Peter and Janet Khan led courses at the Northwest Bahá'àSummer School in Seabeck, Washington in JuneâÂÂJuly 1970 and at Bahá'àconferences including at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan in January 1971 at the Green Lake Institute, Wisconsin in October 1975 and at Green Bay, Wisconsin in December 1975. Khan was also a member of the U.S. International Goals Committee.
In 1976, the couple announced that they were returning to Australia, to take up academic positions at the University of Queensland, Brisbane. Janet Khan held the position of assistant professor of psychology at the university. From 1977 to 1983, Khan was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the BaháâÂÂÃÂs of Australia. She served as the Chair from 1982 to 1983. She spoke and conducted workshops at the Bahá'àNational Youth Conference in Hobart, Tasmania in January 1978. In February 1979, the Khan and Dr Peter Khan visited the United States, and spoke of their service to the Bahá'àFaith in Australia. In August 1979, Khan was the keynote speaker at the Bahá'àWomenâÂÂs Conference in Melbourne, Victoria, in August 1979. While on sabbatical leave, in her role as Vice-Chair of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ÃÂs of Australia, and in service to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ÃÂs of the United States, Khan travelled to the United States where she was a featured speaker at a Bahá'àYouth Conference in Coeur dâÂÂAlene, Idaho in June 1980 and visited Bahá'àcommunities in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and northern California in June and July 1980. In her role as Chair of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ÃÂs of Australia, Khan spoke at the Bahá'àInternational Conference in Canberra, ACT in September 1982.
From 1983 to 2010, Khan served in the Research Department at the Bahá'àWorld Center in Haifa, Israel. KhanâÂÂs work involved researching the teachings and history of the BaháâÂÂàFaith and studying the correlation of BaháâÂÂàthought with contemporary social issues. In April 2009, Khan and her husband Dr Peter Khan visited Sydney, Australia and were keynote speakers for the 75th anniversary celebrations of the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ÃÂs of Australia.
In 2010, Khan and her husband returned to Australia from Israel. Khan has continued to actively serve the BaháâÂÂàFaith in Australia as an author and public speaker after her husband died in July 2011.
In June 2015, Khan attended a multi-faith gathering with the Dalai Lama in Brisbane, Australia, where she read a prayer by âÂÂAbduâÂÂl-Baha, head of the Bahá'àFaith from 1892 to 1921. Khan is also a member of the International Advisory Board for the University of Maryland's BaháâÂÂàChair for World Peace.