American University of Beirut Magazine. Spring/Summer 2015, Vol XIII, No. 3

TransitionsThe First Fifty

Celebrating Old and NewThe launch of AUB’s 150th anniversary, andthe inauguration of Fadlo R. Khuri

Revitalizing Old FesArchitecture students visit Morocco to help revitalize an ancient city

American University of Beirut Magazine. Winter 2016, Vol XIV, No. 2

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Searching for the Edge of the UniverseGeorge Helou (BS ’75) life as a pioneeringastronomer

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To speak to someone about supporting financial aid, contact us at giving@aub.edu.lb or make a gift at https://give.aub.edu.lb

Aiducation.Sevana Sarraf, physics major and Farouk K. Jabre scholar atAUB, found her passion on the television screen when shewas 13 years old. “I saw a physicist on the DiscoveryChannel talking about time travel and was just captivated,”she says. She fixed her sights on AUB early, influencedpartly by her father, an AUB alumnus, and applied to noother school. She has since completed a year’s worth ofphysics coursework and joined AUB’s track and field team.In a bid to boost her public speaking skills, she also joinedToastmasters. She hopes to host a “robotics exhibition” oncampus and transform the Lee Observatory into a “lightmuseum” for the 150th anniversary celebrations. She findsherself reaping the rewards of hard work and determination.“After all the financial battles and challenges I have faced in my life,” she says, “I am finally exactly where I alwayswanted to be.”

Searching for the Edge of the UniverseGeorge Helou (BS ’75) Life as a pioneering astronomer

AUB Everywhere Alumni profile, class notes, WAAAUB, and chapter news

Impact Regional impact, advocacy, and policy initiatives

Revitalizing Old Fes

A leading expert in Arab and Islamic architecture,

Professor Salma Damluji works with students to

rehabilitate Fes’s historic medina

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Contents5Inspiration Student life, the liberal arts, AUB personalities

past and present

AUB celebrates the old (150th years!) and the new

(the inauguration of President Fadlo R. Khuri)

Discoveries Research, the arts, and current events

The Tranquility of Emergency MedicineTaking the trauma out of the emergency room

Wellness AUBMC 2020, health, and medicine

AUB’s 150th

Anniversary The first 50 years

The MainGate Winter 2016 Vol. XIV, No. 2

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Under Discussion: Sari Hanafi on the challenges of social science research in

the Middle East.22

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Letter from the President

As we launched our 150th anniversarycelebrations in January, I outlined avision to help place AUB at the center of meaningful, service-orientedknowledge generation in the Arabworld. The University’s role has alwaysbeen to educate young women and mento lead, build, heal, teach, and becomeambassadors for values that are thebedrock of an open and just society.This was as true of the first graduatingclass of 1870 as it is the Class of 2016.

The best way to widen our sphere ofimpact is by providing the mostpromising young scholars, many fromthe most underrepresented and under-resourced parts of the Arab world, withthe means to study at AUB. Whetherthrough scholarship programs, low-interest loans, or debt clearance, wemust guard against becoming auniversity that is economically eliterather than intellectually elite. Themore diverse our student body, thebetter we can truly and transformativelyserve the needs of this region—throughour curriculum, our research, and the important work our graduates go on to do.

In order to accomplish this, we mustmeaningfully grow our endowment.And it is not only financial aidprograms that stand to benefit: Physicalinfrastructure will be updated to reflectthe boldness of our research aims, theexcellence of our educational programs,and the unparalleled quality of cutting-edge patient care at AUBMC. State-of-the-art facilities and funding forrisk-taking research, along with thereinstatement of academic tenure,

will provide critical support to ouroutstanding faculty and make us morecompetitive in the recruitment of themost accomplished scholars andprofessionals.

AUB owes its existence to a specialconfluence of cultures and events that could only exist in this part of the world. But today the region is inturmoil. Humanitarian crises in Syria and elsewhere require totalcommitment from everyone who hasthe capacity to help. AUB has thatcapacity, more, perhaps, than any other institution in the region. My goal for this University is to focus theabundance of knowledge, skills, andcivic-mindedness, which we are famous for, to create solutions thatmake a difference in the lives of thelarger community which is desperatefor our help.

Finally, as a nonprofit educationalprovider, it is essential to remember the task which thousands of familieshave entrusted us with for 150 years:enriching the minds and horizons oftheir children. Everyone connected toAUB—administration, faculty, staff,students, alumni, friends, andsupporters—has something tocontribute to this mission. I know wecan reach our ambitious goals when we all work together in a focused andimpactful manner. I look forward withboundless enthusiasm, energy andcommitment to striving along thischallenging path with all of you.

Fadlo R. Khuri

President

Views fromcampus

www.fsc.org

The pages of the MainGate are printed on 100 percent postconsumer fiber paper and the cover is 30 percent. It is printed using web offset process with attention to clean-air operations. Lane Press gets 98 percent of its electricity from sources other than greenhousegas-producing carbon fuel. Inks are bio-derived and low in volatile organic compounds.

Please recycle this magazine. If you prefer to subscribe to the online version of the MainGate, please email maingate@aub.edu.lb

Dear MainGate readers,

Welcome to the first of MainGate’s three special issues commemorating AUB’s 150th anniversary!We’ve added a new section featuring highlights from the Jafet Library archives. In this issue,discover the first 50 years of our history through an illustrated timeline, stories of some of ourearliest AUB couples, excerpts from some of the first student publications, and a photo essayhighlighting the newly renovated Main Gate. Particular thanks are due to the University Archivesfor their assistance in helping us to uncover and share so many treasures.

This first commemorative issue also marks a personal landmark: After 10 years, this issue is mylast as editor, as I take on a new job as director of the Debs Center in New York, and assistantsecretary of the University. I’m grateful to the professors, staff, alumni, and friends who havealways been so generous with their time and extraordinary stories. I’d also like to thank ourtalented writers, the AUB design team, and Nour Kanafani (BGD ’97) and his team atCommunication Design for their work on this magazine, the 150th logo, and the 150th visualcampaign featured all over campus.

This year, we celebrate not only the past, but also the present. The inauguration of PresidentFadlo R. Khuri, AUB’s 16th president, and launch of the 150th anniversary, come to life in thesepages. We follow Professor Salma Damluji and her students as they immerse themselves in thearchitecture of UNESCO world heritage site Fes el Bali in Morocco. And we visit Lebanon’sbusiest emergency room at AUBMC as it continues to innovate and excel.

Expect great things from MainGate!

Ada H. Porter

Inbox

EditorAda H. Porter

Responsible DirectorNabil Dajani

Art Direction and DesignCommunication Design SALwww.cd-sal.com

ProductionOffice of Communications

PhotographySuzanna ClarkeHasan NisrHisham SabaJean Pierre TarabayUniversity Libraries, Archives and Special Collections

Staff WritersEric EygesBarbara Rosica

Contributing WritersNicholas BokeSuzanna Clarke

American University of BeirutOffice of CommunicationsPO Box 11–0236Riad El Solh 1107 2020Beirut, LebanonTel: 961-1-353228

New York Office3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 8th Floor New York, NY 10017–2303Tel: 212-583-7600maingate@aub.edu.lbwww.aub.edu.lb/maingate

PrintingLane Press

CoverL to R: Dr. Henry Jesup, Dr. Daniel BlissBliss Photo Collection 1823-1916

Commonabbreviationsfound in theMainGate (MG):

Abbr.

ACSAmerican Community School

AUBAmerican University of Beirut

AUBMCAmerican University of Beirut Medical Center

CAMESCenter for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies

CAMSCenter for Advanced Mathematical Sciences

CASARPrince Alwaleed Bin TalalBin Abdulaziz AlsaudCenter for AmericanStudies and Research

CCECSCenter for CivicEngagement andCommunity Service

FAFSFaculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

FASFaculty of Artsand Sciences

FEAFaculty of Engineeringand Architecture

FHSFaculty of Health Sciences

FMFaculty of Medicine

HSONRafic Hariri School of Nursing

ICInternational College

IFIIssam Fares Institute for Public Policy andInternational Affairs

IOECRay R. Irani-OxyEngineering Complex

KSAKingdom of Saudi Arabia

LAULebanese AmericanUniversity

LDEMLandscape Design and Ecosystem Management

NCCNature ConservationCenter for SustainableFutures

OSBSuliman S. Olayan School of Business

PSPADepartment of PoliticalStudies and PublicAdministration

REPRegional External Programs

SPCSyrian Protestant College

WAAAUBWorldwide Alumni Association of AUB

Back CoverMap provided by a project ledby Maria Mansour on AUB’simpact on the streets ofBeirut.

The campus is in full blown150th celebrationmode!

AUB 150 Art Direction and DesignCommunication Design SALwww.cd-sal.com

This 150th statue onthe College Hall plazais the new favoriteplace to gather forphotos at AUB

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14Tag Tour Making Music: musicians, instruments, compositions, and a well-seasonedconcert hall

15Face to Face Sana Murad of the Visitors Bureau makes everyone feel at home

AUB Celebrates!Inspiration abounds at an AUB trifecta: the Inauguration of AUB’s 16th

president, the hosting of Presidential Symposia, and the launch of AUB’s150th anniversary

16Staff News Exceptional scholars Hiba El Hajj, MD, and Dima Jamali, PhD, make significantadvances in prolonging life and business ethics, respectively, while Nadim Farajalla,PhD, and Rana El Hajj tackle climate change

Inspiration

Published & Produced Exhibits:Current Power in Syria at the 6th Marrakech Biennale; a calendar of AUB 150th

cultural events that includes special concerts, conferences, exhibits, and festivals

Written Word:Decoding the human connection; Cairo’s imaginative architecture; Memories of ahome lost in the Nakba; the ultimate guide to good conduct

Student life, the liberal arts, AUB personalities past and present

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Published & Produced

Inspiration

CURREnt POwER In SyRIA

The 6th Marrakech Biennale, February 24 - May 8, 2016

A project by Sijil, a multi-disciplinary collective whose members include KhaledMalas (BAR ’05), Salim AlKadi (BAR ’04), Alfred Tarazi (BGD ’04), and Jana Traboulsi(BGD ’00).

Sijil has produced a book describing five distinct periods in the history of electricityproduction in Syria, along with an art installation showing the growth of the Syrianpower grid over time. Through their research, they helped support the constructionof windmills in the besieged Damascus suburb of Ghouta, where ongoing hostilitieshave adversely affected the power supply.

ART

Celebrating AUB’s 150th!March

1 Exhibition“The Arab Nude: The Artist asAwakener,” Exhibition andInternational ConferenceAUB Art Galleries

2 Book LaunchAUB One Hundred and Fifty

42 ConferenceCity Debates (Architecture andGraphic Design Department)

8 AUB Music Club Recital

16 ConcertGuy Manoukian and orchestraperforming Zaki Nassif withyoung starsZaki Nassif Program for Music

April

ConcertAUB Choir and Choral SocietySpring Concert

Special EventFAS 150—A two-daycelebration to mark the 150thanniversary of the Faculty ofArts and Sciences withdistinguished speakers,symposia, exhibitions, aconcert by opera singer RimaTawil, and a gala dinner

Community EventAUBotanic – Communityevents related to theannouncement of the AUBcampus as an arboretum andbotanic garden

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May

Community EventBliss Street Fair andExhibition: Ras Beirut in 150years

ConferenceBooks in Motion: ExploringConcepts of Mobility inCross-cultural Studies of theBook

ConcertWinners of Zaki Nassif’sCentennial School ChoirCompetition

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Cultural EventFolk Dance FestivalStudent Affairs

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15 Outdoors Festival21 22

15 ExhibitionAUB ArchaeologicalExcavations through History

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Cultural Events

March – May 2016Events are subject to change. For the latest information

and event details, visit: www.aub.edu.lb/150

3. tHE CHURCH BELLOn SUndAy

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2. PARIS ALOng tHEnILE: ARCHItECtURE InCAIRO FROM tHE BELLEEPOqUE

4. BOOK OF nOBLECHARACtER,ExCELLEntCOndUCt,AdMIRABLEdESCRIPtIOnS, AndCURIOUS SIMILES

Written Word

000000|FFFFFF Decoding by Lina Farra (BBA ’83) (AuthorHouse,2015) is a photographic exploration of the world produced over 12years and across 22 different countries, which focuses on our commonhumanity and the effect of digital technology on the human spirit.Farra, a marketing professional, concludes that increased reliance ondigital technology has failed to dampen that spirit.

Paris along the Nile: Architecture in Cairo from the Belle Epoque

(American University of Cairo Press, 1999, 2015) by Cynthia Myntti,PhD (MA ’74). Myntti examines Cairene architecture through oldphotographs, taking us through the building boom that began in Cairoin the 1870s.

The Church Bell on Sunday (2014, DarNelson) by Suhail Bulos (BA ’46, MD ’50) is a personal memoir that tells a poignant story oflonging for a lost home. Bulos traces his family’s history in Palestineback to 1740, when his Christian ancestors migrated from Syria toGalilee. After retiring from a 47-year career as an orthopedic surgeonand professor at AUBMC, Bulos concentrated on his love for writing.He is the author of Land of Dreams (2013, Dar Nelson), and Rue duMexique and Other Stories (2010, Rimal).

Book of Noble Character, Excellent Conduct, Admirable

Descriptions, and Curious Similes (Brill, 2015) edited by Bilal Orfali,PhD (BS ’00, BA ’01, MA ’03) and Ramzi Baalbaki, PhD (BA ’73, MA’75). This critical Arabic text edition of K. Makārim al-akhlāq

wa-mahāsin al-ādāb wa-badā’i al-awsāf wa-gharā’ib al-tashbīhāt is a substantial work of adab (Islamic etiquette) attributed to theprominent literary figure Abū Manūr al-Tha’ālibī (d. 429/1039). Filledwith quotes and proverbs, this text is, in essence, an anthology ofwriting on good conduct, reflecting on adab’s three ingredients:behavior, literary culture, and learning. The book is dedicated to thelate AUB professor Sami Makarem (1931-2012).

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Inspiration

On January 25 and 26, AUB celebrated the launch of its 150th anniversary and inaugurated its 16th president, Dr. Fadlo R. Khuri, before an audience of distinguished guests, alumni and friends of the University coming from around the globe. The ceremony’s full program included rousing speeches,compelling exhibits and videos, thought-provoking symposia, and a gala dinner at Biel attended by nearly 800 guests. Together, the community looked back with tremendous pride and forward with great hope and renewed determination.

Inauguration

1. President Fadlo R.Khuri and ChairPhilip S. Khoury

2. President Fadlo R.Khuri

3. President’s family4. Following theinaugurationceremony, dancersin front of CollegeHall launch the150th anniversarycelebrations.

“The significance of AUB in its 150th year cannot be

overstated. We are learning the lessons of the past, while

setting our sights on the future.One thing has not changed

since Daniel Bliss founded AUBin 1866: we are determined

to make an impact–onknowledge, and on society [...]”

President Fadlo R. Khuri

“Education is the key to oursuccess as a people, and oursurvival as a country, and theAmerican University of Beirut

is a historic cradle of educationthat has played a distinct role in Lebanon, the region, and

the world […]”

Keynote Speaker,Dr. Bermans J. IskandarUniversity of Wisconsin

School of Medicine and Public Health

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“In an ideal world governments,the enterprise sector, and

universities would form a verysolid, mutually reinforcing

triangle.”

Former AUB President John Waterbury

“[Our strategy has been] toconsistently balance local and

international communities, andat the same time to reallyrespect existing culture,traditions, and values.”

Effat University President Haifa Jamal Al Lail,

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“In the Arab and Africanregions, universities are very

young--hardly 50 years old--sothey need [guidance]... AUB isnow 150 years old and havingbeen through many stages of

development [is well positioned]to help...Unless we have [such]

centers of excellence in the ArabWorld, we cannot expect much

collaboration betweenuniversities.”

Ahfad University of Women PresidentGasim Badri (BA ’68, MA ’71), Sudan

“[The Arab university system must be able topromote] what I call cosmopolitanism, in the

best sense of the word. By that I mean movingeasily within cultures and between cultures . . .

to savor and appreciate their splendor andbeauty.”

Former Birzeit University President Khalil Hindi

“We’re supposed to be engagingstudents critically, culturally,

morally, to give them a chanceto become genuine good citizens

of the world.”

Associate Professor Bana Bashour,Department of Philosophy

“AUB is a magnet for peoplewith a sense of purpose.”

Associate Professor of ClinicalSpecialty, Emergency Medicine,

Eveline Hitti, MD

Presidential Symposia

1. Panelists discusspivotal moments ofAUB’s history onstage

2. Professor DavidKurani presents thefine arts

3. Rana Marie Costa,Cardiology Fellow;Ziyad Ghazzal,Deputy VP, AssociateDean and ProfessorDepartment ofInternal Medicine

4. The audience at theDefining Momentssymposium

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dEFInIng MOMEntS At AUB: MEMORIES OF tHE PASt,

REFLECtIOnS On tHE FUtURE

HIgHER EdUCAtIOn In tHE REgIOn: BEtwEEnIntERnAtIOnALIzAtIOn And LOCAL RELEvAnCE

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Higher Education Panel at Bathish Auditorium

Inspiration

“I am pleased to announce thatAUBMC has commenced

planning on a genomic Centerof Excellence. . . We aim to

provide the best in classdiagnostic information to our

practicing oncologists.”

Mohamed H. Sayegh, AUB ExecutiveVice President for Medicine and

Global Strategy

“Among Fadlo’s majorscientific achievements when

working with us at MDAnderson was developing aprimary chemotherapy for

laryngeal cancer, eliminatingthe need for radiation or

surgery and, thereby, savingthe voice box.”

Waun Ki Hong, Head, Division of Cancer MedicineUniversity of Texas MD Anderson

Cancer Center

“I’m hesitant to apply Americanepidemiology in another

country . . . [In reference tobreast cancer] We do need agood screening for younger

women. The problem is thatmammography is not that test.”

Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer,American Cancer Society

CAnCER In tHE MOLECULAR ERA: PROMISE And PROSPECtS

Panelists for Cancer Symposia

“We have established a researchdata registry, a tumor and DNAbiorepository, and the familial

cancer registry which willhopefully allow us to have some

genomic insights into ourpatient population in the very

near future.”

Raya Saab (BS ’95, MD ’99), AUBAssociate Professor of Pediatrics,Director of Research, Children’s

Cancer Institute

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150th Launch and Inauguration Gala at Biel

1. Check-in at Biel2. Chairman Khouryand President Khuriget ready to cut the150th cake

3. Tango Apasionado4. Biel5. 150th Gala Dinnerspeakers:Ali Taher, AUBProfessor ofMedicine,Hematology andOncology; Reem Acrarepresentative ZeinaHachem Beik; HelenSader, AUB Professorof History andArchaeology;Charlotte Karam, AUBAssociate Professorof OrganizationalBehavior; Dr. ThomasQ. Morris, AUBChairman Emeritus;Omar Talhoukrepresenting AUBChairman EmeritusDr. Richard Debs;Mona Harb, AUBProfessor of UrbanStudies and Politics;Jihad Touma, AUBProfessor ofAstrophysics; HudaZurayk, AUBProfessor ofEpidemiology andPopulation Health;and Habib Haddad,co-founder and CEOof Wamda.6. Lina Jazi and WaelChehab

7. Guests take selfiesin front of the 150th

timeline.

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1. The Biel tables2. Soumaya Khuri 3. Trustee MaherMikati and his wifeDana

4. President Fadlo andLamya Khuri withsinger Majida ElRoumi (DHL ’09)

5. Fouad Bawarshi,Mona Bawarshi,Mufid Beydoun

6. Mariam Said andNadim Cortas

7. President FadloKhuri with wifeLamya, and childrenRayya, Raja andLayla 3 4

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watch the inauguration, symposia, and other150th related events on AUB youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/AUBatLebanon

Inauguration of AUB’s 16th president, dr. Fadlo R.Khuri - January 25Presidential Symposia, January 25 - 26:

• defining Moments at AUB: Memories of thePast, Reflections on the Future

• Higher Education in the Region: BetweenInternationalization and Local Relevance

• Cancer in the Molecular Era: Promise andProspects

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Inspiration

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By the Books

SyLLABUS

Engaging trends in European philosophyand Arabic critical thought, this seminarconsiders the work of moving between the“inside” and “outside” of “philosophy,”while interrogating Eurocentric conceptionsof those limits. It thus opens a trans-schematic critical conversation in which the future of philosophy and a newethical/political opening toward “theother” are at stake. The goal is to articulatea radical type of critical intervention thatcould arise from between critical topologiesof thought and their mutual displacements.Key thinkers include Heidegger, Derrida,Malabou, Abū Zayd, and ‘Abd al-Rahmān.

CLASS tIME

Through a series of structured seminardiscussions, students will begin to considerthe schematic and figurative nature ofabstract thought as it relates to conceptionsof the universal, the particular, and themeaning of theory itself. We operate in aworld in which there is no universallanguage of abstract thought. We act inresponse to demands among post-colonialstudies scholars and other humanists whocall for de-centering the relationshipbetween one particular critical tradition(that of European philosophy) and itsothers (including, in this case, Arabiccritical discourses).

BIO

Sarah Epstein joined AUB as a MellonPostdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Artsand Humanities after completing herdoctorate at SOAS, University of London. Her thesis was entitled, “From a ‘Philosophyof the Limit’ to a ‘Poetics of the Horizon’: A Comparative Critical Approach toLanguage, Subjectivity and Alterity inPoststructuralist Thought and Arabic Critical Discourse.” Her research is in what she has termed “Comparative CriticalThought,” which she is currently exploringthrough a series of trans-schematic,transformative engagements betweenEuropean philosophy and Arabic criticalthought (classical and modern).

Course: Islamic Thought and Modernity

Inaugurations and long speeches often go hand in hand. AUB President Fadlo Khuri’s speech came in at 5,527 words. To better understand the president’s vision for the University, we analyzed how frequently keywords were repeated in the speech.

Speeches

Rounding out the top five most-used words and theirnumber of mentions, we have:

AUB

Faculty

World

Arab

Lebanon

By the Nu bers

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Arts

Region

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vs.

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Sciences

World

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29 Challenges

Future

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5 Opportunities

History

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Completed in 1891, Assembly Hall originallyserved as a chapel. Today this building is afavored venue for concerts, lectures, andmeetings. The Hall was built with a $30,000gift from Elbert B. Monroe, son-in-law ofFrederick Marquand. Monroe also providedthe original organ and put the chapelequipment in place in time for 1891commencement.

01 Former AUB Trustee B.D. Eddie donatedthis organ in 1972. It weighs four tons,twice that of its predecessor. It was builtby world-renowned Danish organ builderMarcussen and Son.

02 Electrical and computer major NourSayegh is looking out the window to hisleft.

03 Nadim Rouhana, son of musician andcomposer Charbel Rouhana, plays theaccordion. He took up the instrument fiveyears ago.

04 Industrial engineering major WissamHousseiki plays the oud. His uncle playedthe instrument for him as a child and hewould go on to study oud at aconservatory for nine years.

05 Rebecca Abou Jaoude plays the ney, anend-blown flute that figures prominentlyin Middle Eastern Music.

06 Maestro Mike Herro, who joined theLebanese National Conservatory in 1979,leads the orchestra. He previously servedas chief conductor of the Lebanese Armymilitary band and has led the French andRoyal Jordanian army bands.

07 These are Zaki Nassif compositions, whichthe orchestra will be playing.

This is the Zaki Nassif Orchestra practicing forupcoming concerts in Lebanon and Jordan. Tag Tour

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Inspiration

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Face to FaceStaying Connected

When I first arrived at AUB, it wasJanuary and cold, the campus mostlyempty of students. I wandered alonepast the Banyan tree and theOttoman-inspired buildings. I couldsense the history but needed someoneto tell me the story. Just in front ofAssembly Hall, I found the perfectstoryteller in the offices of the VisitorsBureau attached to the Main Gate.

Sana Murad, the Bureau’s official publicrelations officer, greeted me like an oldfriend. Then, with a twinkle in her eyeand wave of her hand, she said, “Theseare my children.” The faces of herstudent guides lit up. They proceeded towalk me through campus, setting outthe history of every tree and building,connecting me to the AUB community.

Sana has told AUB’s story to countlessvisitors in the last 20 years. She came toAUB as a student in 1976 but left in thewake of war, only to return and obtain abachelor’s in public administration in1989. She then began working for theUniversity, winding her way throughseveral departments before landing atthe Visitors Bureau in 1992, where shebegan to weave AUB’s history on atapestry she could share with others.

Facts and figures are not her focus,though she knows them. Rather sheemphasizes connection, the onebetween her and her students andbetween students and their guests.“Shaping the students’ persona is moreimportant than forcing them tomemorize dates,” she says. The happierthe students, the better the face of AUB,and the more who will want to return.”

The connection Sana creates is sostrong that even the exiled come back,not wanting to leave on a bad note. “Inall my years, I’ve had to kick out two orthree student guides for misbehaving,”she remembers. “And guess what? Theycried and begged to return.”

She makes herself available to studentsday and night and remains in contactwith them long after they graduate.“Yesterday I received a call from astudent in Saudi Arabia. He now has athree-year-old daughter. He wasshocked because I recognized his voiceright away!” For this reason, she keepsthe same mobile number. In person oron the phone, she advises students oneverything from work and study to loveand relationships.

Having witnessed the University’s trialsthrough years of strife, Sana exudesbravado and insists her only fear isretirement, which, she promises, won’thappen any time soon. “I’ve beencoming here since 1986!” she says.“This is my life!”

Instead of slowing down, she is pushingto expand. She wants to partner withembassies to keep AUB on the radar ofnew arrivals in Lebanon, so they canexperience the same joie de vivre shespreads all over campus.

-E.E.

Dr. Hiba El Hajj, Assistant Professor of Medicine in theDepartments of Internal Medicine/Experimental Pathology,Immunology, and Microbiology at AUB, has been awardedthe L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Levant and EgyptFellowship Program Award. El Hajj and her team at AUB’sFaculty of Medicine have figured out a way to significantlyprolong the lives of patients with two types of leukemia,acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and adult t-cellleukemia/lymphoma (ATLL). According to UNESCO, theaward is given each year to five outstanding womenscientists—one per continent—for their researchcontributions, commitment, and social impact.

Dr. El Hajj cited the award as “a great recognition to awoman’s contribution to the field of medical sciences.” Sheadded, “it gives me great honor to win the prize as an AUBcandidate representing Lebanon and to be a role model inthe field of medical sciences to many young women.”

Suliman S. Olayan School of Business Professor Dima Jamaliwas awarded the 2015 Aspen Faculty Pioneer Award this pastfall for her work promoting business ethics and corporatesocial responsibility. The award celebrates educators whodemonstrate leadership and risk-taking and develop novelcurricula that examine relationships between capitalmarkets, firms, and the public good. Jamali is the only non-USprofessor to win the award and joins three other recipientsfrom MIT, Harvard, and Northwestern University.

“This is not only recognition of my work, but for myinstitution, AUB, which has created the space for faculty to

leap forward in the domain of sustainability,” Jamali said. “It is great to have the opportunity to touch lives and inspireyoung minds and future generations towards the goal ofcreating sustainable patterns of economic and humandevelopment that place the needs of people front and center.”

Faculty Research Director at the Climate Change andEnvironment in the Arab World Program Dr. Nadim Farajallaand Senior Program Coordinator Rana El Hajj, both of AUB’sIssam Fares Institute (IFI) for Public Policy and InternationalAffairs, attended the UN Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) in Paris on December 12, 2015 where theyadvised Lebanese government officials and informed thewider community on the conference proceedings.

Dr. Nadim Farajalla described the tension as the clock wounddown: “We started to scale down our expectations. There wasa sense of déjà vu from previous inconclusive conferences,”said Farajalla. Then, at 3:00pm, a draft was completed. “Itlooked better than expected. It wasn’t airtight. Rich countrieshad wiggle room, but it was an agreement.”

According to Farajalla, the accord is good for Lebanon andother small countries as they will get more funding thanexpected for developing green infrastructure.

AUB, represented by IFI’s climate change and environmentprogram, has observer status at the United NationsFramework Convention for Climate Change and has beenparticipating in climate change negotiations as part of theofficial Lebanese delegation since 2009. As El Hajj notes, “Itis part of IFI’s mandate as a policy institute to bridge the gapbetween research and policy.”

A Science Role Model for Women

Making Capitalism Work for Everyone

Changing the Climate for the Better

The winners of the annual Founders’ DayStudent Essay Contest: First prize was awardedto senior Nizar Aouad, majoring in Biology inthe Faculty of Arts and Sciences, for his essay“Legacy of a Titan.” Second prize was awardedto senior Elena Grissom, majoring in EnglishLiterature and Political Studies in the Faculty ofArts and Sciences, for her essay “A Light, Brightand Steady.”

In early December, AUB President’s Clubproduced “Frames of Life / In Time,” a West Hallphotography exhibition on AUB campus lifefrom 1866 - 2015.

Last October, AUB’s Computer Sciencedepartment, in collaboration with TechnoFutureLebanon, hosted the launching event of the 3rd

VEX Robotics Championship in Lebanon. TheVEX Robotics Competition is the largest andfastest growing middle and high school roboticsprogram globally with more than 10,000 teamsfrom 33 countries.

The Organic Chemistry Club, the AUB DabkeClub, and the Biology Student Society organized“The Longest Dabke in the History of AUB,” onJanuary 28, 2016, at 2:00 pm, from Bliss Hall tothe Medical Gate, in celebration of AUB’s 150th

anniversary. The pop star Melhem Zeinparticipated in the event.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT.

Inspiration 16

Faculty and Staff News

Quiz Truth and trivia; the first 50 years (1866-1916)21

19PursuitsFEA Associate Professor Daniel Asmar offers a virtual tourismexperience; FEA Professor Mutasem Fadel works to prevent saltwaterintrusion in Lebanon’s water supply; FAFS Chairperson and ProfessorShadi Hamadeh brings urban agriculture to those who need it most

18AUB Spaces The wonders of Professor Zaher Dawy’s wireless communications lab

Under DiscussionProfessor of Sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology,Anthropology and Media Studies Sari Hanafi discusses the challenges of social science research in the Arab world.

22

DiscoveriesResearch, the arts, and current events

AUB Spaces

Zaher Dawy’s lab, in the basement of theRaymond Ghosn Building, Room 209, looks like a listening station in a well appointed army. It’s filled with cellular drive testing tools,electromagnetic radiation measurement meters,spectrum analyzers, network analyzers,antennae, and fancy mobile devices. Dawy, aprofessor in AUB’s Department of Electrical andComputer Engineering, uses this equipment fortelecommunications research that touches onfields like mobile entertainment and health.

“Right now, we’re working on supporting mobileTV transmission in dense environments usingintelligent device-to-device cooperation amongusers,” Dawy explains. “For example, if a lot offans in a soccer stadium want to stream real timematch info.” With the support of the QatarNational Research Fund, he and his team of

undergraduate and graduate students arebuilding a test bed to evaluate ideas. “We are working on how to facilitate high qualityvideo transmission where there is lots ofdemand,” he says.

Dawy is in the process of getting a channelwireless electroencephalogram (EEG) headset, via NeuroPro, a Swiss brain technology company,which has agreed to buy it for the lab. “We canuse it for e-health projects that involve measuringand processing brain signals to provideambulatory care to patients with neurologicaldisorders,” he says.

Dawy works in the lab from time to time tocoordinate ongoing project development and testing activities with his research group. “It’s mostly for students,” he says. “Working with students on real world implementation ofnew research ideas is an enlightening experiencethat leads to impactful outcomes.”

wireless Communications Lab, department of

Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of

Engineering and Architecture

Discoveries

Mutasem Fadel

ProfessorEnvironmental Engineering

Program

A Saltwater Invasion

Pursuits

Shadi Hamadeh

Chairperson and ProfessorDepartment of Agriculture

Urban gardening

Daniel Asmar

Associate ProfessorMechanical Engineering

Department

virtual tourism Three years ago, we received a grant, co-fundedby the European Neighborhood and PartnershipInstrument (ENPI), under a program meant topromote sustainable tourism in theMediterranean region. That grant allowed us tomove forward with an augmented reality tourismproject. Working with historians to ensureaccuracy, we created an app that superimposesdestroyed structures on existing ones when usedwith an iPhone, iPad, or Google Glass. Touristsstanding in front of, for example, the Roman

ruins at Byblos will be able to use the app to viewthose ruins as they existed long ago, before theywere ruins. For those who can’t make it to Byblos,we will offer an Oculus Rift experience thattransports users to ancient Lebanon via virtualreality headset, thus creating a virtual tourismexperience of the kind seen in science fiction. Wehave done several workshops with the app andOculus Rift and are waiting until the DirectorateGeneral of Antiquities reopens its museum inByblos to introduce them to the public.

With funding from International DevelopmentResearch Centre of Canada, we are examiningsaltwater intrusion into fresh groundwateraquifers along the Lebanese coast. The projectfocuses on understanding the relative impacts of anthropogenic (meaning: caused by humans),geophysical, and climatic factors on the dynamicsand intensity of saltwater intrusion, with an eyetowards improving the management of aquifers.We are also looking at the socio-economic impactof saltwater intrusion on urban and agriculturalenvironments.

We monitored saltwater intrusion in groundwaterover the past four years. We performed a 3Dsimulation of intrusion processes and studied the relative impacts of various stress factors onthe semi-karst Beirut Aquifer. Analysis showedadvanced salinization of groundwater aquifers,primarily driven by anthropogenic stresses, alongall studied areas. Economic burdens were foundto increase as a function of salinity levels; median household expenditure on water rosesignificantly higher than the worldwide average.As the project concludes, we hope to informpolicymakers of appropriate countermeasures.

My colleagues and I are working with the NearEast Foundation to increase access to food viaurban agriculture activities. We are providing 150families in the neighborhood of Burj Hammoudwith urban agriculture kits. These kits come invertical and horizontal forms. The vertical kitconsists of a net stretched over a wooden frame.Plastic bottles are affixed to the net and filled withsoil for planting. The horizontal kit consists ofplastic crates that can be placed on a balcony orrooftop. Depending on the season and sunlight,

they can grow herbs for the kitchen, like mint andsage, or small shrubs, and on the rooftop, theycan grow any kind of vegetable.

We are still in the sample-selection phase and, in early 2016, we will distribute kits to 30households and start monitoring their effect on household fruit and vegetable expenditures.Every couple of months we will distribute morekits until we reach the sample size of 150.

1918

R+D

Crystal Ghantous

PhD, BiomedicalSciences,

Hypertension-induced VascularRemodeling

Research focus: The focus of my research isthe involvement of two hormones, adiponectinand leptin, in hypertension-induced vascularremodeling. The Lebanese Health Ministry hasestimated that one in four Lebanese sufferfrom hypertension, which can lead to heartattack and stroke. The study relies in vitro andin vivo studies of rats. I induce hypertension inrats by mechanically stretching their bloodvessels or with hormones, like angiotensin ii. Ithen study the expression of proteins in theblood vessels, the contractility of these bloodvessels, and the expression of reactive oxygenspecies. For the in vivo model, we fill osmoticmini-pumps with angiotensin and implantthem subcutaneously in rats to inducehypertension. We normally run in vitro testsfirst, then in vivo ones, which are more robust.

Biggest discovery to date: I found out thatinducing hypertension for one hoursignificantly increases the expression of leptinin vascular smooth muscle cells. Such anincrease, after just an hour, is significant.Previous studies showed an increase in leptinin the blood but not in vascular smooth musclecells. We published these results in Frontiers inPharmacology. We showed that leptin was produced by vascular smooth muscle cells.

Implications for research: Right now, I’m doing basic biomedical research. We are trying to see if adiponectin protectsagainst hypertension and associated vascularremodelling.

If effective, we will look for a way to increase adiponectin production or use acompound related to adiponectin that mimicsits actions.

How I got here: I entered AUB to studybiology, hoping to go into medicine. Towards the end of my sophomore year, I realized I like doing research more thanclinical work. I applied to the physiologymaster’s program immediately aftergraduation and worked with Professor Asad Zeidan on my master’s thesis. Then they relaunched the PhD program in biomedical engineering, which I entered as one of three students.

what I’ll remember most about AUB:I’ll remember the friendships I’ve made here,the relationships, the hard work I’ve put in. By the time I graduate, I’ll have spent 10 years at AUB.

Best moment of day: Personally, hanging outwith my friends. Academically, when I get goodresearch results.

Discoveries

Quiz

SPC/AUB (1866-1916)truth and trivia from the timeline of the first 50 years

Match dates to events!

1867

1876

1882

1890

1909

1912

1913

1914

Year of the first performance ofa Shakespearian play in Syria.

Year of the first organizedstudent protests.

Year that SPC/AUB’s firststudent center opened.

Year that Daniel Bliss sailedwith his bride Abby Wood Blissfrom Boston to Beirut on the60-foot schooner Sultana.

Year that SPC/AUB studentenrollment reached 875.

Year of the first medicalconference hosted bySPC/AUB.

Year SPC/AUB awarded its firsthonorary degrees.

Year of the first SPC/AUBStaffite.

For more on the AUB timeline

visit:150.aub.edu.lb/timeline

Scene from earlySyrian production ofAs You LIke It

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

Legend:

1867 d–the trip took 57 days and was so debilitating for Mrs. Bliss that

few people thought she could withstand the hardships of her new life.

She thrived, predeceasing her husband by just one year. they are buried

side-by-side in the Anglo-American cemetery in Beirut.

1876 H–Joshua B. Crane, then a recent graduate of Brown University,

was SPC/AUB’s first Staffite. Staffites were recent US college graduates

appointed as assistants or tutors on a three-year contract.

1882 B–when SPC/AUB chemistry and geology professor Edwin Lewis

acknowledged Charles darwin as one of the great scientists of his time,

he angered the missionary community. Lewis resigned, leading to the

first student protest movements, demanding free speech on campus.

1890 g–SPC/AUB awarded its first honorary doctorates to ya’qub Sarruf

(BA 1870) and Faris nimr (BA 1874), recognizing their pioneering work in

journalism, as well as other disciplines.

1909 A–the first Shakespearean play to be performed in Syria was SPC’s

production of As You Like It in 1909. According to National Geographic

Magazine, March 1915, the cast included greek, Syrian, Armenian,

Jewish, druze, Coptic, Muslim, and Kurdish students.

1912 E–Of the 875: 584 came from Syria, 192 from Egypt, 53 from Asia

Minor, 21 from Mesopotamia, 20 from Russia, 17 from Cyprus, and 4

from Abyssinia. Other places represented by one or more students:

Siberia, Poland, Persia, Rumania, Macedonia, greece, Peru, Haiti, and

Singapore.

1913 F–In 1913, SPC/AUB held its first medical conference encouraging

professionals in the field to network. (AUB hosted the first Middle East

Medical Assembly in 1951.)

1914 C–west Hall opened as a facility dedicated to enriching campus

life. At the time, it held a billiards table, a roller skating rink, and

bowling alleys.

2120

President Khuri was awarded the Scientificand Technological Achievement Award at TAKREEM’s 6th Award Ceremony onNovember 14, 2015. The award recognizesDr. Khuri’s efforts to advance research and his impact on care in lung, head, and neck cancers.

In a statement, the National Council forThe Kuwait Foundation for theAdvancement of Sciences (KFAS) hashonored three academics from AUB withthe Kuwait Prize for the years 2014 and2015: Dr. Gabriel Rebeiz in the field ofEngineering Sciences; Dr. Nader El Bizri, inthe field of Arabic Sciences andPhilosophy; and Dr. Sari Hanafi, in the

field of Economics and Social Sciences.The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, presented theinternationally peer-refereed prize onbehalf of the Foundation.

A new biomarker believed to hold greatpromise in targeting causes of vascularcomplications associated with type 1diabetes has been discovered byresearchers from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the AmericanUniversity of Beirut (AUB), and CaseWestern Reserve University. Study leaderAyad A. Jaffa, PhD, holds a dualappointment at MUSC and AUB.

IN CASE YOUMISSED IT.

Discoveries

Under Discussion: The political environment inmany Arab countries is notconducive to social scienceresearch. Politicalrepression, censorship, andsuspicion among religiousclerics make the practice ofsocial science difficult. Insome cases, social sciencemay recommend policy thatdirectly contradicts fatwas orclerical decrees. Researchthat might challenge aregime’s basis for legitimacy,such as census-taking,which would reveal the truesize of different ethnic andreligious groups, isoutlawed.

Social scientists rely almostexclusively on public funds,which come in dribs anddrabs. Getting funding forprojects, especially thosetackling sensitive socialissues, can be a challenge.The Arab Council for Social

Sciences is one of the solebackers of risky, innovativeresearch in the region. In2012, as the Syrian conflictmorphed into total war, theCouncil backed a study ofemergent governance inareas of the country nolonger under the Syrianregime’s control.

These are the types ofstudies we need more of,studies that speak to theregion’s particular dynamicsas they exist. What we don’tneed are more sociologicalframeworks that support thestudy of metrics relevantonly to outside observers.The social sciences can’tsimply be imported like thephysical sciences. Rather,there must be organicgrowth from inside the Arab world.

22

A scientific, grassroots approach to studying Arab society

Sari Hanafi

Professor ofSociology and Chairof the Department of Sociology,

Anthropology andMedia Studies

Giving Old Pills aSecond Chance

Repurposing expired pharmaceuticals

The Tranquility ofEmergency Medicine

AUBMC leads the way in emergency medicine and care inLebanon and the region

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24Check Up Lara Nasreddine, PhD (BS ’95, ’00) on how the modern diet affectsobesity and chronic disease

WellnessAUBMC 2020, health, and medicine

26News Tackling two challenging health issues in Lebanon: the growing TB crisisamong migrants and breast cancer

30Sahtein Oriental beef and grilled halloumi salad

Check Up:

Wellness

q. Can you describe foodconsumption patterns in the Arabworld today?

A. Our diets are becoming increasinglyenergy dense, relying more on fastfood, refined grains, and sugar, anddeparting from traditional patternsbased on legumes, whole grains,vegetables, fruits, and olive oil.

When we look at the evidencecoming from nutritional studies of the Arab world done byuniversities and governmentalbodies, we can see that fat intake,especially saturated fat from animalproducts, has risen. At the sametime, we are seeing a decrease intotal carbohydrate consumption. The source of carbs has alsochanged: we’re getting less fromfruits, vegetables, and legumes, andmore from refined grains and sugar.

q. How have patterns changed? why? Causes?

A. The department of Nutrition andFood Sciences at AUB has beenconducting food consumptionsurveys in Lebanon since the 1960s,so there is a lot of evidence out there.Surveys from the 1960s describe thediet in Lebanon as plant-based, witha macronutrient breakdown of 60%carbs and 25% fat. This was aMediterranean type of diet.

Dietary changes picked up speed inthe 1970s and 1980s. Take Bliss Streetfor example. In the 1960s, there wereprobably no fast food chains orrestaurants there. But if you walkthere now, it is what you call atypical obesogenic environment. It’s a driving force for weight gain.Fast, low cost, high-calorie foods are everywhere.

Lara Nasreddine,PhD, Associate

Professor, Chair ofthe Department ofNutrition and Food

Sciences, is studying ourchanging diet.

2524

We are witnessing a nutritiontransition across the entire region.The shift in diet parallels the shift inlifestyle, from traditional to modern.The food market is globalized. Lowcost, processed foods are morereadily available, and theconsequences of their consumptionare not well understood by largeswaths of the population.

From 2002 to 2003, I conducted arepresentative food consumptionsurvey of people living in Beirut; 450people were included in the sample.The survey showed fat intakeincreasing to 35%. Young people aremost vulnerable to this nutritiontransition. They embrace the moderndiet. Older people, less so.

q. How have food consumptionpatterns affected health?Obesity rates have risen in Lebanonand the whole region. The link isvery clear. When obesity increases,other chronic diseases increase. As to what causes obesity? It’s acomplex question. To simplify: youbecome obese when you have achronic energy imbalance. If youconstantly choose high fat, highenergy foods, you will gain weight.It’s just math. We are eating more interms of calories and in terms of fatand sugar while we are moving much less; 70% of the population in Lebanon and in the region isconsidered inactive, meaning theydo less than 30 minutes of physicalactivity a day. Less physical activityon the job and at home and excessbody fat adversely affects one’shealth, specifically by raising theincidence of cardiovascular diseases,Type 2 Diabetes and some types ofcancer. More than 50% of annualdeaths in our region come from non-communicable diseases, whichcan be mitigated through diet andlifestyle choices. Interventions at the level of diet should be a priority.

q. Any specific challenges to eatinghealthy in Lebanon/Beirut?Anything about the environmentor culture?

A. I would say the opposite (lesschallenges). In our culture, we havean embedded structure for a healthydiet that we can and should buildupon. We must revive it and not let iterode. The problem is that traditionalways of eating, which are healthy,are eroding.

q. what measures are currently beingtaken to address this public healthissue? what measures do yourecommend on a societal/policy level?

A. Unfortunately, there isn’t muchdirect action at the national level.We, as a department, the Departmentof Nutrition and Food Sciences, havepioneered in providing data on foodconsumption patterns. We have laidthe groundwork for policies. A teamof us, including Nahla Hwala, thedean of the Faculty of Agriculturaland Food Sciences, have developeddietary guidelines for Lebanon andhave collaborated with the Ministryof Public Health to disseminate theseguidelines. They are divided into 13 different chapters or messages,concerning subjects such asmaintaining healthy body weight,consuming a varied and well-balanced diet, and decreasing the intake of salt, sugar andprocessed meat.

The development of these guidelines is both scientific andculture-specific. We carefully lookedat food consumption patterns anddiet-related diseases specific toLebanon prior to the development of these guidelines.

Nutrition has been incorporated intothe school curriculum. But I think weare still far from having strongmeasures to keep healthy food in the

cafeteria. We are still timid when itcomes to healthy eating policy.

q. what is the department doing interms of advocacy?

A. As nutritionists, it’s our job to raise awareness to help children eat better. We are developing several nutrition education manualsthat target different age groups ofthe population and that provide the proper advice to individuals who seek it. Sometimes we haveunqualified people advising peopleon nutrition, and the departmenttries to reach the community in order to provide sound, evidence-based dietary recommendations. We advise balance between foodgroups, variety, moderation, andphysical activity. This is the key toachieve, in the simplest terms, ahealthy way of living. Don’t rely onrestaurants and diners to raise afamily or for daily nutrition.

The Department is actually veryactive in raising awareness viadifferent channels. We organizesymposia and conferences, andparticipate in media-related events.We recently held a conference onearly life nutrition because there isincreasing evidence showing thateating habits early in life, as early as the pregnancy, play a huge role in determining disease risk later inlife. I recently conducted a nationalnutritional survey of children underfive in Lebanon. We saw high obesityin this population, poor rates ofexclusive breastfeeding, and high fat intake. These findings highlightimportant areas for intervention in Lebanon.

Wellness

Dr. Nagi El Saghir, professor of clinicalmedicine and hematology-oncology at the American University of BeirutMedical Center (AUBMC), has beenawarded the 2015 CNRS ResearchExcellence Award for “his outstandingcontribution to the understanding ofbreast cancer in young women, geneticmutations, downstaging and improvingoutcomes of breast cancer patients inLebanon.” The annual award, grantedby the Centre National de RechercheScientifique, recognizes scientists whohave excelled in conducting research in different scientific disciplines inLebanon. The award aims to reinforceresearch and innovation that respondsto the country’s needs.

“It is a great honor for me to berecognized by the CNRS for the cancerresearch I am doing in Lebanon,” Dr. ElSaghir says. “Such recognition is a greatstimulus for me and our group tocontinue our research and to advance it

further. Without research, we could nothave documented, nor known, that halfof breast cancer cases in Lebanon occurin women below the age of 50 and thatmost women in Lebanon and Arabcountries with breast cancer werediagnosed at an advanced stage. And we would not have known what to do tolower these rates. It is because of suchresearch data that we have embarked onstudies to learn of the causes of cancerin young women, and we have launchedlarge-scale awareness campaigns thathelped reduce the number of cases ofadvanced breast cancer by detecting thedisease at early stages.”

These efforts have been effective. “Our 2014 study showed that there is a recentdecrease in advanced breast cancer,with more than 60% of patients nowdiagnosed as early stage I and stage II,”Dr. El Saghir added. “We showed that weare performing less total mastectomiesand more partial mastectomies that

conserve women’s breasts; and morethan 90% of women with stage I andmore than 80% of women with stage IIare alive and free of disease after 10years. Those are excellent results andshow that we have changed the face andoutcome of breast cancer in Lebanon.”

Confronting Breast Cancer in Lebanon

AUBMC NewsIn the wake of an increase in the numberof tuberculosis (TB) cases among thecountry’s large migrant population,physicians at AUBMC’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicineconducted a workshop on managing TBspecimens, proper diagnosis, and safetymeasures. The one day workshop wasrequested by the Lebanese Ministry ofPublic Health.

Held this past October at the Faculty ofHealth Sciences, the workshop, titled“Mycobacterial Characteristics and AcidFast Bacilli Staining,” aimed to assistlaboratory technicians at the NationalTuberculosis Program (NTB) affiliatedlaboratories in performing smearmicroscopy to accurately test for new TB cases. Technicians also learned to monitor the effect of chemotherapy on patients.

Dr. George Araj, professor and director of clinical microbiology, Lina Itani,Supervisor of CML, and AlineAvedissian, specialist in charge ofBacteriology and MycobacteriologyLaboratories, directed the workshop,which was attended by staff from theNTB, the International Organization forMigration, and 15 technicians from allover Lebanon.

“Though Lebanon as a country is rankedlow in TB incidence compared withother nations, the fluctuating trends in incidence and increase in drugresistance may be worrisome given theincreasing numbers of non-nationalsand the influx of Syrian refugees,” Dr. Araj says. “The close and ongoingcollaboration among the NTP, HIVprogram, NGOs, private sector and the

Clinical Microbiology Lab at AUBMC hasstrengthened program activities andconstituted the leading dynamic drivingforce for the control and elimination ofTB infection in Lebanon.”

Handling the growing tB Crisis among Migrants

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Ziad Abichaker, director of recyclingfirm Cedar Environmental, believes hehas found a solution for the disposal of expired pharmaceuticals in Lebanon.For this, he has enlisted his longtimeassociate, AUB Professor of ChemicalEngineering Walid Saad. Inspired by a US researcher who embeddedradioactive substances in polyethylene,Abichaker seeks to embed old pillswrapped in plastic and aluminum foilin walls of polyethylene/polypropylene(reclaimed from municipal waste),which can be used for fencing,emergency shelters, and as “greenwalls.”

Protocol for the disposal of expiredpharma varies by country. In the UnitedStates, pharmaceuticals are notdesignated as hazardous waste.However, the United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agencyencourages local law enforcement,pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics torun take-back collection programs andmake use of hazardous wastecombustors. Lebanon classifies expiredpharma as hazardous waste but thecountry lacks treatment facilities. Oldmedicine either gets dumped inlandfills and uncontrolled incineratorsor sent back to country of origin at greatcost to drug importers.

Experts disagree as to which disposalmethod will have the highestenvironmental impact. Some fear tracelevels of chemicals could make theirway into water systems. Others arguethat these concerns are unfounded.

In this environment of regulatory andscientific ambiguity, Abichaker sees an opportunity to make use of expireddrugs, minimize environmental impact,and make a profit. If his plan provessafe and cost-effective, he will collectdrug importers’ waste, for a fee, andcould perhaps capture a share ofhazardous municipal waste as well.

Before this project, codenamed GEP(Green Expired Pills), gets off theground, Abichaker must convince theMinistry of Health of its safety. At hislab in AUB’s newly established IraniOxy Engineering Complex (IOEC), Saad evaluates the efficacy in stoppingchemical seepage. Tests by Saad haveconfirmed the suitability of thisapproach and the efficacy of theproduct design. “Wrapping the pills in ecoboard made it very hard for us todetect any drug, even under acceleratedtemperature conditions,” says Saad.“We had to crush the pills into powder,disperse it in the Ecoboard, and exposethem to harsh conditions to be able todetect any leaching.”

Once the Ministry issues CedarEnvironmental a preliminary license,Abichaker and Saad can begin a testrun. “We can do a manufacturing runfor around one ton of pills. If, after thatrun, the materials hold up and there’sno leaching, we will get a license,” saysAbichaker.

Giving Old Pills aSecond Chance

Walid Saad

Professor,Department ofElectrical andComputerEngineering

The Tranquility ofEmergency MedicineAUB’s department of Emergency Medicine creates a calm, collarborative atmosphere by

compiling data and giving nurses a voice

You’ve seen the TV shows. You know whathospital emergency rooms look like, soundlike, feel like. Anxious family members pleadwith emotionally distant receptionists inwaiting rooms packed with the sick, thewounded, and the terminally ill, while doctorsand nurses scurry about, everyone in a panic.In one corner you see the bloodied victim of a gunshot wound; in another a doctorfrantically tries to reach a specialist on the phone.

Think again. Walk into the nearly emptywaiting room of AUB’s Department ofEmergency Medicine (EM) and you’re greetedby a welcoming receptionist. She listenspatiently then directs you into the triageroom. From there, you’ll be sent to either theHigh Acuity or Low Acuity Section. Unlessyou’re a child, in which case you’ll go to thepediatric section.

“We’ve got a ‘door-to-doc’ time of 25 minutes,”AUB EM Chairperson Eveline Hitti says. Shegoes on to explain that this is only one amongmany changes that have accompanied theshift from emergency room to Department ofEmergency Medicine, a transformation whichtook place under the auspices of Dr. AminKazzi. Dr. Kazzi, past president of theAmerican Academy of Emergency Medicineand EM deputy chief of staff, was brought toAUB specifically to create such a department.

Subsequently, Mohamed Sayegh, theExecutive Vice President for Medicine andGlobal Strategy and the Raja N. Khuri Dean ofthe Faculty of Medicine, has supportedongoing changes in EM infrastructure andorganization. “He is a visionary whosupported these changes, insisting that weourselves take ownership of the process,” Dr. Hitti says.

Emergency medicine came into being as anAmerican medical specialty in the 1970s. Thedifference between EM and traditionalemergency care, Dr. Hitti says, goes farbeyond a simple name change.

Previously, emergency room staff included asurgeon and a group of residents. If theresident felt knowledgeable enough about thepatient’s condition, he or she might prescribetreatment. If not, the resident would try to getin touch with a specialist. The quality of thecare one received, Hitti explains, depended tosome extent on who was on duty. Workingunder the newer emergency medicine rubric,patients are treated by attending physicianssupported by residents.

“In addition to the change in staffing, we’veput in place multiple interventions to ensurequality care,” Hitti says. “We want to provideunity of care, any time of day or night, nomatter who’s on board when you come in.”

Some of the most significant changes can beseen at the nurses’ station in the high acuitysection. Surrounded by curtained-off cubicles,doctors and nurses confer amid the beeps thatregister patients’ vital signs. Medical staffcalmly check the computerized diagnostictools that provide them with detailedguidance about what they may be dealingwith and how to treat it. There’s high energyhere, but no panic.

“These are systematized procedures,” Hittisays, “so that, for example, if there’s a heartattack, the physician can go through thechecklist of evidence-based responses toconditions, based on best practices.”

In addition to the use of standardizedprotocols, streamlined EM approaches have

transformed the way the institution operates.EM Nursing Manager Rima Jabbour, employedhere for 21 years, speaks positively about howher work has changed since the departmentwas created.

“Before, we had many departments andsometimes they competed with each other,”Jabbour says. “Now the competition hasdisappeared and the doctors and nurses share a common viewpoint about how to work together.”

Nurse Hiba Al Mousawi, who came to AUB a year ago, agrees. “Here you have a team of doctors and nurses,” Al Mousawi says. “At other places it was not so much.Communication here is good. The doctorsknow they need our help and they get our help.”

“How do you introduce performanceevaluations by nurses of doctors?” she asks.“In traditional hierarchies, people arereluctant to give feedback about people inpositions of authority. People said, ‘You can’tdo that in the Middle East.’ But we insistedthat we needed the nurses’ evaluations of thedoctors for the safety of the patients. Weshowed them we could do it.”

As far as the nurses’ performance goes, NurseQuality Manager Ramzi Mouawad explainsthat there are a series of Key PerformanceIndicators that can be used to judge efficiency,effectiveness, and timeliness. The premise, he says, is that staff satisfaction leads topatient satisfaction, which in turn reinforcesstaff satisfaction.

But the department is transforming otherareas as well. To ensure that EM is ready forall eventualities, the department has been

Wellness

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developing an Emergency Preparedness Plan.Most of the victims of the 2013 Starcobombing, Hitti says, came to the AUBMC, asdid the 70 casualties from the “You Stink”riots this past August.

“We’ve got to be ready for this kind of thing so it doesn’t overwhelm us,” she says. “We already have the busiest department in Lebanon, going from 45,000 patients in 2009 to 53,000 this year. But we’ve got to be ready for all situations. What do you do when phones don’t go through during an emergency? We found that WhatsAppwasn’t being stopped, so we communicatedwith that. But we need to build in redundant systems.”

In addition, the department is adding newservices, such as the first Clinical MedicalToxicology Fellowship in the region. With nopoison hot line in the country, AUB iscollaborating with Emory University inAtlanta, Georgia, to set up a Poison Center.

“The problem is that we can’t always tell what we’re dealing with,” Hitti says. “A girl came in who had ingested something,but we couldn’t figure out what it was, so weconsulted with Emory and were able to takecare of the problem. And I saw my firstorganophosphate here. It’s a pesticide that’sillegal in the US but is a household item in Lebanon.”

The department also emphasizes education.In 2012, it opened a four-year EM residencytraining program, the first in Lebanon. Its firstclass will graduate in 2016.

With 18 residents currently enrolled, Hittisays, “We’re attracting very competitivestudents. And we’re excited about the

residencies, about the education, how thesepioneers are not just at AUB but will stay inthe region. There is a tremendous potential for great impact.”

The greatest impact, Hitti says, has to do withthe research that can be conducted through the program.

“The importance of having our owndepartment with our own knowledge,compiling our own data, feeding it all backinto our clinical work cannot be overstated,”she says. “The clinical work, the teaching and the research feed off each other, but it has to be based on the local community. This is part of our mission as part of anacademic institution.”

Hitti emphasizes significant differencesbetween some of what goes on in the US andLebanon. Returning to Lebanon, sheencountered her first cases of measles andmumps, diseases that have been essentiallyeradicated in North America.

“Emergency medicine is a knowledgegenerator for the region,” she says. “Forexample, what allergic reactions do we havehere? We haven’t been finding cases of peanutallergies here, confirming what is coming tobe understood about the cause of theseallergies in the US. And there are differentdiseases here than in the US. Each region hasits own superbugs, and we have to finddifferent antibiotics to treat them. Emergencymedicine is a window on the diseases of thecommunity.”

Hitti earned her undergraduate and medicaldegrees at Johns Hopkins University inBaltimore, Maryland. While working for ahospital conglomerate from 2005-09, she also

earned an MBA from Johns HopkinsUniversity, which provided her, she says, withher insights into the need for and means ofestablishing systems that ensure high-quality,equitable treatment for all who walk throughthe department’s doors.

No matter what systems you put in place andhow efficiently you organize access toknowledge and procedures, Chief ResidentTharwat El Zahran says, emergency medicineis unlike any other medical specialty. ElZahran rotates 18 interns and residentsthrough anaesthesia, coronary care, pediatricsand neurology.

“How do we really live in the EmergencyMedicine Department?” she asks. “It’s a toughlife. The schedules are unusual, and it’s veryexhausting physically. Then there’s the trustissue—the patients don’t know you, but you’vegot to gain their trust and make quickdecisions. But we have the great pleasure ofsaving lives. It’s different from otherspecialties. It’s always on fire.”

This suits El Zahran just fine. After working asa research fellow in radiology at Emory shereturned to AUB, her alma mater. Next, sheplans to study medical toxicology in the US,an area the department has already decided topursue, before returning to AUB.

“This is what my country needs,” sheexplains. “We’ll be able to train people towork in this area all across Lebanon.”-N.B.

“With no poison hot line in thecountry, AUB is

collaborating withEmory University in Atlanta, Georgia,to set up a Poison

Center.”

Send your recipesubmissions tomaingate@aub.edu.lb

SahteinOriental Beef and grilled Halloumi Salad

Maya El Hajjar (BBA ’09) MBA, grants manager at Qatar University

IngREdIEntS:

RICE

• 1 bowl chopped, mixed lettuce• ¼ cup chopped red cabbage• ¼ cup shredded carrots• ½ cup sweet corn• ½ cup red kidney beans• ¼ cup chopped olives• 130g thinly sliced Halloumi cheese • 350g beef strips• ¼ cup pine nuts• ½ cup pomegranate molasses• ¼ cup pomegranate seeds• 2 tbsp lemon juice• 3 ½ tbsp olive oil• 1 tbsp cooking oil• 1 tsp salt• 1 ½ tsp black pepper

PREPARAtIOn:

Combine lettuce mix, red cabbage, carrots, corn,red kidney beans, and olives in a bowl. Spreadmixed vegetables and beans onto a servingplatter. Prepare the dressing by mixing lemonjuice and olive oil with a pinch of salt. Refrigeratethe dressing for five minutes to thicken it.Meanwhile, stir-fry the beef strips with cooking

oil until tender, and then add salt, black pepper,and pomegranate molasses. Add halloumi slicesto a pan and cook over moderate heat untilgrilled. Layer the beef strips and halloumi slicesonto the platter and dress the salad. Garnish withpine nuts and pomegranate seeds.

gOOd FOR yOU? An expert weighs in...

Marie Claire Chamieh, PhD, LD – Lecturer andPracticum Coordinator, FAFS

Oriental Beef and Grilled Halloumi Salad is acomplete meal as it consists of a variety of foodgroups. It is a source of complex carbohydratesand fiber (corn and beans), as well as essentialproteins (beef, halloumi, and beans). Althoughthis salad contains a decent amount of fat, agood percentage of it is heart-healthy. This mealis particularly rich in antioxidants, such asvitamins A and C, found in lettuce, cabbage,pomegranate, lemon juice, and carrots.Antioxidants are crucial for a strong immunesystem, good vision, and the healthy structure oftissues and organs. A serving of 200 grams, amedium plate of this salad, provides 385 caloriesof which 23% comes from proteins, 35% fromcarbohydrates, and 42% from fats.

30 Wellness

• First alumni cookbook featuring 168Mediterranean recipes by alumni and friends of AUB.

• Assembled by worldwide alumni volunteers in collaboration with the WAAAUBPhiladelphia/Delaware Valley Alumni Chapter.

• All recipes are accompanied by nutritionalfacts, beautiful photos, recipe symbols, andhealthy tips where appropriate.

• 420 pages, full color, hardcover book thatincludes comprehensive glossaries of foodterms, cooking techniques, herbs and spices.

• Features art work and photography by alumni,faculty and friends.

AvAILABLE MAy 2016

• USA/Canada: purchase from Amazon.com• Lebanon: Maliks Bookstores• Rest of world: Maliks on-line

Proceeds from net sales go to AUB StudentScholarships.

For more information and to stay in the loop,visit: www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/AVB/cpages/news.jsp?chapter=44

ABUndAnCECELEBRAtIng 150 yEARSOF PLAntIng SEEdS

36Restoring AUB’s Main Gate: A brief

history of this symbolic gateway Reinvigorating AUB's historic entrance

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SPC Student Archives

Scenes from the SPC campus,the Bliss years

SPC Couples: Great mindsmet at SPC

AUB’s 150th

Anniversary (1866-1916)

Syrian Protestant College(SPC) Timeline

1866 - 1916

Events that made a difference, including: 1870, the first graduatingclass of SPC; 1891, Assembly Hall; 1899, the inaugural year of studentpublication Al Kulliyah.

Scenes of life on campus from the first 50 years

A selection of early student publications

Romance blossoms amid pines and palms in the early days of SPC/AUB

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Anniversary

Campus life during the first 50 years

Scenes of AUB2

1. SPC StudentsUnion,1913

2. College Hall, 1900s3. AUB Nurses from theClass or 1911

4. Chemical Laboratory,1900

5. Jurji Zaydan, Lebanesenovelist, historian,journalist and teacher, 1880s

6. Campus gathering,1900s

7. SPC Faculty, 18988. James Somerville and Edward Nickoleyare faculty overseeinga student play at SPC in 1915

9. Prof. Robert West with graduating Class of 1901

10. Dr. George Post, Dr. JohnWortabet, Dr. CorneliusVan Dyck, Harvey Porterand Edwin R. Lewis, withthe undergraduates ofthe Medical School,1880

11. Medical Faculty, 189712. Faculty and staff infront of Bliss Hall circa 1901

13. A young Daniel Bliss14. Early faculty and staffwith some wives, 1900

15. Campus Panorama,1924

16. A view of campus and Mt. Sannine circa 1913

17. SPC gymnasts

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1866 - 1916Daniel Bliss becomesfounding president ofSyrian ProtestantCollege (1866-1902)Missionary, educator,founder, and longest-serving president ofSyrian ProtestantCollege (now AUB), Blissserved from 1866-1902.He was born in the townof Georgia, Vermont,and came to the NearEast through hismissionary work for theAmerican Board ofCommissioners forForeign Missions. Agraduate of AmherstCollege and AndoverSeminary, where he wasordained in 1855, Blisswelcomed people of allcreeds and colors toembrace Protestantismat SPC.

Syrian ProtestantCollege welcomes itsfirst class The Syrian ProtestantCollege opened with itsfirst class of 18 studentson December 3, 1866.

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SPC establishes MedicalSchoolIn 1867 Syrian ProtestantCollege’s MedicalDepartment opened itsdoors to its first class ofstudents.

1867

1868

AUB ArchaeologicalMuseum establishedThe AUB ArchaeologicalMuseum is the region'sthird oldest museum,after those in Cairo andConstantinople. Theinitial donation for theconstruction of a sciencebuilding, Post Hall, tohouse the museum wasfrom Morris Jesup, as atoken of gratitude toGeorge E. Post, professorof botany and surgery,for curing him.

1870 1871

SPC graduates its firstmedical doctorsThe first class of sixmedical doctorsgraduated from SPC in1871. They were SalimDiab, Salim Frayji, YusufHajjar, Nasir Halim,Rashid Shukrallah, andShibli Shumayyil.

Breaking ground forCollege HallOn November 28, 1871,construction of CollegeHall broke ground. OnDecember 7 of that year,William E. Dodge,treasurer of the Board ofTrustees, laid thecornerstone for thebuilding.

Medical School joinswith the PrussianHospital for clinicalteachingIn 1871 SPC signed anaffiliation agreement withthe Prussian Hospital.The agreement allowedSPC to use the hospital forclinical teaching. ThePrussian Hospital, built inthe early 1860s by theKnights of the Order of St.John (Johanniter), wasnear the property SPChad purchased for itscampus, yet found itselfwith no medical staff by1871. This was anextraordinaryopportunity for SPC tooffer the services of itsmedical faculty inexchange for the use ofthe Prussian Hospital'sclinical facilities.

SPC graduates its firstclass The first group ofstudents, numbering fivein all, graduated in 1870.They were: Ya‘qub Sarruffrom Hadath Beirut,Ibrahim Khairallah fromBhamdoun, QaisarGhrayyeb from A‘beih,Na‘um Mughabghab fromAin Zhaltah and IbrahimMusawwir from Zahleh.

SPC settles in Ras BeirutIn 1870 the originalportion of Ras Beirutcampus was purchasedfor about $8,000. Thearea was largely pastoralprior to SPC’s arrival;however, Daniel Blisswas convinced itsspectacular views of theMediterranean wouldmake it a great locationfor the University.

Minutes of thegeneral facultyfrom January11, 1871. (Scanof JohnniterHospital fromAUBCatalogues pre1918).

1873

College Hall builtThe first and most storiedbuilding on campus,College Hall, more thanany other structure,symbolizes the ideals andaspirations of AUB.President Daniel Blissconsulted with RobertCollege President CyrusHamlin in Constantinopleon the hall’s design, asHamlin had just overseenthe construction of thatcollege’s first building.

Lee Observatory builtThe Lee Observatory wasamong the first buildingserected on the campus ofthe Syrian ProtestantCollege. Cornelius VanDyck supervised theconstruction of theobservatory during thesame period that CollegeHall was being built. LeeObservatory, the first andoldest astronomicalobservatory in the MiddleEast, was named forHenry Lee of Manchester,England, who gave 150pounds sterling for thebuilding.

Old medical buildingconstructedThe old medical buildingwas completed in 1873. Itlater housed the School ofBusiness for a period oftime. Today it is home tothe Office of Regional andExternal Programs.

First ringing of theCollege Hall bellOn March 13, 1874,students hung the bell inthe tower of College Hall,which came into usethereafter as the seat ofthe Universityadministration.

1879

Marquand House builtCompleted in 1879,Marquand House hasbeen the designatedhome to AUB presidentssince Daniel Bliss tookup residence there in1880. The initial campusplan called for theconstruction of apresident’s house, but itwas not until New York-based merchantFrederick Marquanddonated $5,000 for thatpurpose and the Russo-Turkish War came to aclose upon the signing ofthe Treaty of San Stefanothat construction beganin earnest.

A newly constructedCollege Hall circa 1873.

Lee Observatory againstthe costal mountainscirca 1874.

The old medical buildingcirca early 1900s.

1883

English becomes mainlanguage of instructionin Medical DepartmentIn 1883 English becamethe main language ofinstruction in theMedical Department.Prior to that, classes weretaught in Arabic.

A photo of SPC's firstgraduating class.

Portrait of Daniel Bliss.

Archaeological Museumin the early 1900s.

1874

Marquand Housecirca 1879.

The first 50 years

A generalstatement fromthe SPC catalogof 1887-88.

1891

SPC Chapel (a.k.a.Assembly Hall) builtThe SPC Chapel wascompleted in 1891.Students attendedmandatory religiousservices daily for the first66 years of theUniversity's life. Thebuilding's name waslater changed toAssembly Hall. Today itsexcellent acoustics makethis building a favoredvenue for concerts,lectures, and meetings.The hall was built with a$30,000 gift from ElbertB. Monroe, son-in-law ofFrederick Marquand.Monroe also provided theoriginal organ and putthe chapel equipment inplace in time forcommencement exercisesin 1891.

1897

First Football FieldA makeshift football field bordering the SPCChapel, College Hall, andthe street was laid downin 1897. A year later,Lieutenant Volner Krohnwas appointed asinstructor of physicaleducation.

SPC provides a liberaleducationSPC's General Statementof 1897-98 articulates forthe first time that "theCollegiate Departmentgives a liberaleducation." Liberal, inthe dialect of the time,meant a wider range ofelectives would beoffered to students.

1900

School of CommerceopensThe Literary Departmentof 1866 became theCollegiate Department in1900. It would laterbecome the School ofArts and Sciences, andultimately, the Faculty ofArts and Sciences.

1902

Howard Bliss becomesthe second president ofSPC/AUB (1902-20)Born in Souk el-Gharb,Howard Bliss, son ofDaniel Bliss, received hiselementary schooling inLebanon and graduatedfrom Amherst Collegeand Union TheologicalSeminary. He becamepresident of AUB in 1902.An impassionedproponent of Arab rightsat the Paris PeaceConference in 1919, Blissdied while in office in1920.

1903

First Bachelor ofCommerceMichel F.J. Abcarius wasawarded SPC's firstBachelor of Commercedegree in 1903.

1905

School of NursingfoundedMary Bliss Dale (BA 1913,Vassar College), daughterof Daniel Bliss and sisterof SPC President HowardBliss, founded the Schoolof Nursing in 1905 withJane Van Zandt (1902,Margaret FahnestockTraining School forNurses, New York Post-Graduate Medical Schooland Hospital) as director.In 1918, Dale became thesuperintendent of SPC’sNurses' Training School,and in 1923,superintendent of thehospital. Van Zandtserved as director of theNursing School until 1932and then continued as anadviser until 1941.

AUB awards firstmaster's degreeIn 1905 SPC awarded itsfirst master's degree toPhilemon Jurjius Khuri.

Pictured with the nursingclass of 1918, Mary Bliss(second from left) andJane Van Zandt (far left).

1908

SPC graduates firstwomen studentsSPC graduated its firstwomen nursing studentsin 1908. They were AdeleKassab, Rosa Kulunjian,and Ossana Maksoudian.Each recieved a nursingcertificate.

SPC builds Maternityand Women's HospitalIn 1908 SPC's Maternityand Women's Hospitalopened its doors.

Al Kulliyah publishedfor the first timeThe alumni magazineAl Kulliyah was firstpublished in 1910.

1910 1915

SPC medics care forwounded during WWIDuring World War I, SPCdoctors, nurses, andstudents played pivotalroles assisting reliefefforts of the AmericanCommittee for Armenianand Syrian Relief.

An article fromOutlook V 74circa 1903.

WWI Medics, 1914

Chapel Interior

Chapel Exterior

1904

New athletic fieldA new athletic field wasused for Annual FieldDay for the first time in1904.

StudentPublications(1866-1916)

AUB’s students havealways been ahighly literatebunch, producingmagazines andnewsletters sincethe University’searliest days. Thesepublications,covering universitylife, sports, worldaffairs, and offeringthe occasional joke,give us insight intothe views of SPCstudents on varioussubjects at the turnof the 19th century.

Anniversary

3534

1. Happy Days of SPC1904 Mar no. 5 p.61

2. Al-Kuliah, May 11,1899 No.16

3. Syria No.1 Vol.2 p.34. Sadda Al-Iststadijah1902-1908 p.60

5. Light Field Day 1906p.16

6. Pioneers of SPC 1905May No.1 p.11

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Anniversary

Main Gate, AUB’s historic entrance and thismagazine’s namesake, was renovated this pastfall. Its stone façade was polished and a newplaque was installed in honor of the project’sbenefactor, Karam G. Tannous Doumet (BBA ’78,MBA ’80), an AUB alumnus and the HonoraryConsul for Ecuador to Lebanon. Over a centuryafter its construction, Main Gate remains thesymbolic entry point from Beirut into AUB’scampus where tolerance and progressivism carry the day.

Edward Pearce Casey, architect for the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., designed thestructure, reminiscent of Roman city gates and

triumphal arches, like the Arc De Triomphe, withan Ottoman flavor. Since its completion in 1901, it has functioned as an administrative building,gate man’s office, reception space, andheadquarters for the dean of the Faculty of Artsand Sciences. It has also been the site of studentdemonstration, tango festivals, graduationparties, and the passing of the Olympic torch in 1964.

It stands today as both a monument to the pastand a promise of the future, welcoming outsidersand members of the AUB community to enter andexperience the University’s traditions of academicexcellence and achievement.

A Beacon and a Bulwark

Restoring Main Gate

3736

1. AUB President Fadlo Khuri

2. The MainGateexhibition at West Hall

3. Audience membersat Main Gate’sre-inauguration

4. The Main Gate grill5. An early photo ofMain Gate

6. President Khuri withConsul Karam G.Tannous Doumet

7. The dedicationplaque

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From AUB’s first 50 years

AUB Couples

Charles Webster with his wife Annie and daughterMarjorie (1913)

Early faculty pictured with their wives (late 1800s,early 1900s)

Three generations of Jessups. Samuel Jessup andStuart Jessup with wife and son (circa 1900)

Howard Sweetser Bliss and Amy Blatchford (early 1900s)

Dr. George Edward Post (mid-1800s) and Sarah RiadPost (mid-1800s)

Eliphalet and Mary Williams Blatchford, parents ofAmy Blatchford, wife of Howard Bliss pictured withAbby Wood Bliss and Daniel Bliss (circa 1900)

Anniversary38

43<None>

Revitalizing Old Fes Architect and AUB Professor Salma Samar Damluji and her students helprestore old Fes

ImpactRegional impact, advocacy, and policy initiatives

Coming Together forLebanon’s Public Schools

USAID, AUB, Lebanon’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education, andseveral NGOs make a difference in Lebanon’s public schools44

46

48Guiding Lebanon Outof its Trash Crisis

AUB’s Solid Waste Management Task Force guides municipalities towardsustainable waste management solutions

40

An Insider’s Perspectiveon a New Outsider

AUB alumni in Germany discuss the immigrant experience as they witnessSyrian refugees facing familiar and unfamiliar challenges

RevitalizingOld Fes

In the plane tree-shaded courtyard ofSouk el Henna, in the Fes medina inMorocco, a small group of studentshuddles over a set of plans andsketches. The designs they are shapingmay significantly influence themedina’s future development.

A dynamic woman wearing a green hatcrouches among the students, askingprobing questions. She is Salma SamarDamluji, Professor of Architecture of theIslamic World at AUB. Considered theleading expert on mud brickarchitecture, Damluji has studied andworked with it in Morocco’s High Atlasregion, Yemen, and across the MiddleEast.

Since she joined AUB in 2013, Damlujihas been bringing groups ofarchitecture students to work on designand rehabilitation projects in the Fesmedina as part of a course onarchitecture and culture. As Damlujipoints out, these days the heavystudent workload makes international

fieldwork a rarity for mostundergraduate architecture students.

Fes is known as the cultural andspiritual heart of Morocco. More than amillennium old, the walled city is thesite of what is sometimes called theworld’s first degree-granting university,Al Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 by awealthy merchant’s daughter, FatimaAl-Fihri.

It is here that luminaries of the ancientIslamic world, such as 12th-centurycartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi,14th-century historian and economistIbn Khaldun, and 16th-century writerand traveler Leo Africanus, developedand shared theories of law, religion,geography, philosophy, mathematics,and medicine.

“This year we are working on theMaristan,” Damluji says. Dating from1286, it’s reputed to be one of theworld’s first hospitals for mentalpatients.

For Leyla El Sayed-Hussein (BArch,expected ‘16), the city’s ancient historyconveys a joyful, dream-like quality: “In Fes, there is no place for grief; youshould get yourself ready for anysudden joy.”

On beginning work, this year’s group ofstudents initially focused on lack ofstorage, says Betina Abi Habib (BArch,expected ‘16). “We had the impressionthat the main problem was the currentadapted reuse of the building,” shesays.

After talking to shop owners, however,the students realized that drainage andlighting were far more significantissues. “Having mapped these, we wereable to address the well-being of thepeople inside,” she says. “Thinking ofthe history of the place, we knew therewere water features in the design, weknew that there was music everyFriday…we would like to propose re-introducing these.”

Impact

A total of sevenstudentsaccompaniedProfessor Damlujito Fes: JawanFahkoury, BetinaAbu Habib, LeylaEl Sayed-Hussein,Alexander Rayes,Sarah Abiad, AylaHourani, and LisaBornholdt

The students’ holistic approach epitomizesDamluji’s teaching ethos: understanding abuilding’s or space’s history and context is anessential part of adapting it for future use.

The local restoration authority, ADER(Agence pour la Dédensification et laRéhabilitation de La Médina de Fès), co-coordinates the workshop, offersperspectives, and provides the projects anddocumentation, Damluji says. “We look atsites that are on their list to develop and workwith them,” she says. “Then the studentswork in situ [on site], sketch, survey, and doas much research as possible for the next twoor three weeks. They develop and finalisetheir proposals and ideas for rehabilitation,renovation, or new construction, and thenpresent their theses. At the end of thesemester, we send the project proposals anddesign research to ADER as a package [forthem] to consult and make use of.”

For Walid Haddad, the project allowedstudents “to do hands-on restoration andrehabilitation work and interact with a nearlyvirgin culture, increasing architectural,professional, and cultural exposure.”

In previous years, AUB students have workedon other key public buildings, includingMadrasat al Musbahiyyah and Suq al Hayiknear the University; Suq al Sabbaghin;

Funduq al Qattanin; the Astronomy Museumat the Dar al Muwaqqit; Hammam bin‘Abbad, a pious Sufi, and two city gateways.This year, their second focus, after theMaristan, is the Suq Qa‘at al Samn wal ‘Asl(the ‘ghee and honey’ suq), where varioustypes of honey and a kind of clarified butter,samn, are sold in large blue plastic tubs.

Returning to Fes has enabled Damluji torevisit old haunts and continue her longtimework in the Maghreb. In 1992, she published(with photographer John Hedgecoe) a bookon Moroccan Zillij (fired tiles), the subject ofan exhibition held one year later at the RoyalCollege of Art in London. She also set up theRoyal College of Art Studios in Asilah nearTangiers.

Damluji considers herself a contemporaryarchitect more than an historian. “Thisarchitecture is important for the future,” she says. “It’s a sustainable and ecologicalform of building: inspiring, functional, andaesthetic.” She’s speaking both in terms of physical structures and social networks:buildings are an integral part of thecommunity in which they reside and ancienttraditions can and should have a place in the modern world. For Damluji, traditionalalso means continuing to work with localcraftsmen and builders, who have been hurtby capitalism.

Most architectural courses, Damluji says,exclude the teaching of Arab and Islamicarchitecture as an historic and living form ofarchitecture, to students’ detriment, becauseit is “terribly relevant to their education andknowledge as designers working in theregion.”

She brings students to Fes, she says, because“it is a living example of the Arab medina, acomplete mechanism.” She paraphrases IbnKhaldun: “As soon as a city loses its crafts, itis the sign of decay of its culture… Crafts arethe million axes that go into the making of acity. From the fabric, calligraphy, painting,carving, and stucco paneling, to weaving, tothe zillij (cut fired tiles), to the pots, food,dress, [and] the builders.”

In the course Damluji teaches at AUB, sub-titled “Geometry and Design,” she invitesstudents to explore another traditionalelement of architectural practice: “Studentsnow use Auto-CAD and rarely use theirhands,” she says. “We have sessions wherethey draw up, using pencil, pen and compassin the same way we were taught. Thediscipline of geometric construction is amental and physical process, which makesthem understand the relationship of formand proportion, the science, philosophy andthe intrinsic meaning inherent.” It is, shesays, “a system that governed other art formsin the Islamic world, including calligraphy,music and poetry,” in other words, so muchmore than just “beautiful design orornamentation.”

“These were structures that were set down inancient Mesopotamian (Sumer and Babylon)culture; documented by Plato and Euclid; ...expanded by Arab philosophers andscientists; and consolidated in art,architecture and city building,” Damluji says.“So we are talking here about a very differentpart of Islamic history and philosophy thatyou get to teach them in a different way, in acreative way, and [with] an empirical methodof research and field surveys. And this iswhat is lacking in our society now, for artistsand architects alike. It’s not just aboutarchitecture, it’s about culture…Culture goesmuch deeper than what we label or brand.”

4140

“The students’ holisticapproach epitomizesDamluji’s teaching

ethos: understanding a building’s or space’shistory and context is an essential part of adapting it for

future use.”

“So we are talking hereabout a very differentpart of Islamic historyand philosophy thatyou get to teach themin a different way, in acreative way, and [with]an empirical methodof research and field

surveys.”

Impact

4342

Ayla Hourani (BArch, expected ’16)agrees, “For a culture to be so intact,yet sympathetic to and intimate with its surroundings—it’s amazing.”

About Professor Salma damluji...Salma Samar Damluji has beenProfessor Binladin Chair forArchitecture of the Islamic World at the American University of Beirut forthe past three years.

In the mid-1970s, and in the mid-1980s,she worked with renowned EgyptianArchitect Hasan Fathy in Cairo.

She first visited Yemen in 1981 as aHuman Settlement Officer with the UNEconomic and Social Commission forWestern Asia, then worked in Bahrainand Yemen (the cities of Shibam andTarim in Hadramut Governate).

From 1987 until 1994, she was aResearch Fellow and then tutor atLondon’s Royal College of Art. She co-ordinated the RCA’s MoroccanStudios in Asliah from 1994-1997.During this period, she also served as senior tutor at the Graduate Schoolof the Architectural Association Schoolof Architecture.

From 2002-2004, she acted as Directorof the Technical Office of the Chairmanof the Works Department in Abu Dhabi, during which time she invitedinternational architects and artists(such as Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel,Herzog & de Meuron, and Dale Chihuly)to work on key projects, including theAbu Dhabi Grand Mosque.

In 2005, she returned to her first love, working on the architecturalrehabilitation of key sites in Yemen,most notably Masna‘at ‘Urah and QarnMajid in Daw‘an, Faqih Mosque in‘Aynat and Ghayl BaWazir Mosque inSah in Wadi Hadramut. She is foundingmember of The Daw‘an Mud BrickArchitecture Foundation.

Her publications include TheArchitecture of Oman (1998), TheArchitecture of Yemen (2007), and The Other Architecture: Geometry, Earth and the Vernacular (2015).(www.dawanarchitecturefoundation.org)

-S.C.

For Amal Bou Zeineddine and RimaKarami, education reform is about“changing habits of mind.” BouZeineddine, Associate Director ofElementary Education at AUB’s Centerfor Teaching and Learning, and Karami,AUB Associate Professor of Education at the Center for Teaching and Learning(CTL), have put this premise into actionwith thousands of public schoolteachers throughout Lebanon. Thisspring, D-RASATI — formally known as the Developing RehabilitationAssistance to Schools and TeacherImprovement Program — wraps up five years of focused efforts to improveLebanese public schools. This nearly$80-million collaboration is one of the largest projects funded by USAID in the Middle East, bringing togetherAmerican NGOs EducationDevelopment Center (D-RASATI I, 2010-2012), World Learning (D-RASATIII, 2012-2016) and CTL, in addition toAMIDEAST, the Ministry of Educationand Higher Education (MEHE), and theCenter for Educational Research andDevelopment (CERD).

Hassan Diab has been involved in thisround of education reform from twoperspectives. As Minister of Educationfrom 2011-2013, he oversaw some of thecollaborations between D-RASATI andthe ministry. As Vice President forRegional and External Programs atAUB, he has also overseen theUniversity’s participation in D-RASATI,as well as connecting AUB with avariety of individuals, organizations,and governments that are interested in

new education initiatives throughoutthe region: a total of 68 projects wereundertaken in 2015, including closework with 11 universities in 30 countriesand professional developmentopportunities for regional businesses.

“I wasn’t minister when D-RASATIstarted,” he says. “[Prime Minister]Mikati wanted me to be minister of thelargest and most complex ministry inLebanon. I’m not a politician. I’m atechnocrat.” In other words, as Diabexplains, he tried to stay out of politicalsquabbles and remain focused on thewelfare of Lebanon’s schools. “AUBplayed a significant role in improvingthe quality of the public schools,” heemphasizes. “The good thing is that this was a partnership.”

AUB Professor of Education Saouma Boujaoude coordinated theUniversity’s D-RASATI work, including:training and supervising teacher-trainers; developing and distributingsubject-specific teaching manuals;recommending science lab materialsand equipment; promotingcollaborations among teachers andschools; and supporting informationand communication technologies (ICT).

More than 20 AUB faculty were involvedin D-RASATI work, Boujaoude says. Inaddition to coordinating the activities,he also specifically participated indeveloping training manuals forTeacher Learning Circles, whichencouraged instructor collaboration,and Subject Area Hubs, which brought

together teachers in the same subjectarea and enabled them to sharematerials, plans, and ideas.

“All our work was based on adult-learning theory, which involvedexperiential learning,” Boujaoude says.“Participants have to be involved in thetraining, to think about what they’relearning as teachers [in order] to changetheir habits. The evaluations showedthat the teachers we trained—mostly totrain other teachers—were very happywith the experience. They said it relateddirectly to their work, and gave themsomething new, something they couldactually use in the classroom.”

Bou Zeineddine also participated in awide range of activities. She explainsthat she developed a multi-facetedsystem for evaluating teachers, as wellas a detailed manual to support thisprocess. In addition, she worked on theTeacher Learning Circle manuals andconducted field observations to makesure they were being correctly utilized,as well as training supervisors to usewhat is known as a Progress Scale toevaluate teacher performance.

Professor of Physics and Associate Deanof Arts and Sciences Malek Tabbal wasinvolved in both D-RASATI I and II. ForD-RASATI I, he trained teachers andcompiled lists of lab materials andequipment that schools should have.For D-RASATI II, he wrote manuals and trained science teachers in onlineresources available for physics teachers.

Coming Together for Lebanon’s Public Schools

Thanks to a USAIDprogram, AUB, theMinistry ofEducation andHigher Education,and several NGOshave come togetherto improveperformance atLebanon’s publicschools.

Impact

He developed “the Biology, Physics andChemistry…lab manuals for studentsand teachers, both in French andEnglish,” he says. “The experiments in the lab manuals covered the mostimportant aspects of ... the high schoolscience curriculum.” These manualswere subsequently used to train scienceteachers in workshops held throughoutthe country.

“The people who came to the trainingswere very good,” he says. “Most of them were already knowledgeable. Theproblem came when they reached outto their colleagues. We expected 15teachers for a workshop, and maybefive came.”

Such problems are not unique to thesciences. Karami described difficultiesaccessing information about existingpolicies and projects, whichcomplicated her efforts to build schoolleaders’ capacity to support use of ICTin schools. Ultimately, she believes theproject had positive impacts. The designstage “included everyone: CERD, theInspectorate General, MEHE, LebaneseUniversity’s School of Education pre-service trainers of principals,” she says.“I think this way of doing things gotpeople’s attention and gave them adifferent way to think about … makingthings happen, even if we weren’t ableto accomplish everything we had hopedfor.”

She also points to the upshot of herwork developing and implementingSchool Improvement Plans. Positiveoutcomes, she says, were the result of school-based self-studies thatemphasized planning, inquiry, andreflection skills and empoweredteachers and administrators.

Rabih El Mouhayar, AUB AssistantProfessor in Math Education, found a similar situation as he and BouZeineddine worked on the Subject-Matter Hubs Project, which broughttogether various stakeholders todevelop subject-specific materials kits, lesson plans, and tips on how toincorporate everyday materials. Thesekits were posted on Moodle, a clouddrive that makes documents and linksavailable online to all teachers.

“The teachers we trained were veryresponsive,” he says. “From mysubsequent field visits, I believe therewas a real growth in their professionaldevelopment.”

Not all of the planned activities werecarried out, such as the work on theStandards for Effective Schools. ToKarami, this sort of lapse often had todo with the gap between the projectgoals and the groundwork already inplace at the ministry, as well as someofficials’ reluctance to draw D-RASATIinto their work. Other complicationsoccurred when teachers couldn’t attendtrainings, sometimes because theyweren’t permitted by their principals todo so. She also notes that it remainsunclear as to what the next steps willbe, such as who will oversee the MoodleAUB faculty that has been set up to helpteachers throughout the country sharelessons and materials.

Overall, Boujaoude sees the work asproductive: 800 teachers from schoolsthroughout the country have beendirectly trained in how to make themost of science labs.

“Now the schools and the MEHE areimplementing what we set in motion,”he says. “The MEHE has decided thateach high school science class shouldhave at least one lab period per week.It’s up to them to implement it.”

El Mouhayar is optimistic about D-RASATI’s impact: “We modeled high standards and reflective teaching,using inquiry-based, student-centeredteaching.”

Bou Zeineddine agrees: “I’ve heardfrom participants that this was the firsttime they had been through a trainingthat was hands-on: not lectures andjust listening, but doing and reflectingand thinking. If you believe in bottom-up policy-making, we had a big impacton Lebanon’s teachers.”

d-RASAtI at a glance

American NGO Education DevelopmentCenter, which organized D-RASATI I,explains that in addition to renovatingseveral hundred schools, the projectsupported the Ministry of Education

and Higher Education’s work toward:enhancing the skills of Lebanon’spublic school teachers strengtheningthe Ministry’s capacity to provide high-quality professional development forteachers and extracurricular learning opportunities for students andcultivating leadership for schoolimprovement and communityengagement by training over 400 school principals in planning activities,including conducting outreach toparents and communities to involvethem in initiatives.

Another American NGO, WorldLearning, which organized D-RASATI II,focused on the development of strategyand guidance documents for the MEHE,related to:

- Standards for Extra-CurricularActivities (ECA), LeadershipDevelopment Program (LDP), SchoolImprovement Program (SIP), andCommunity Engagement (CE);

- A comprehensive national strategy to promote ECA within the educationsystem including seven ECA modulesfor schools;

- An ICT action plan to guidedeployment in the public schoolsystem;

- Training of trainers (TOT) usingtraining materials about ICT, ECA,LDP, and SIP/CE;

- Development of an online vehicle for educators to interact with eachother and with the ministry.

-N.B.

4544

Lebanese AUB graduates living inGermany have a unique vantage pointon the ongoing refugee crisis. Theirsympathies naturally lie with Syrianswho have put their faith in theeconomic, social, and politicalpromises that immigrants to“Deutschland” find so attractive.

In Germany, says Elie Touma (BE ‘82),“one is respected as an individual andhuman being. Human life counts andhas value here, unlike in Lebanon,when I left.” Touma moved to Germanyin 1989 when he married a Germanwoman.

Leaving your home country is never aneasy decision, Touma says. “I talkedwith my mother about the move. Beirutwas not secure then, with bombs andcar bombs, checkpoints, people beingkilled for their religion. My mother saidthat at least she would know I wassafe.”

More recent Lebanese expatriates mayno longer be fleeing war, but they havetheir own reasons to appreciate thefamed efficiency of Germanbureaucracy. “Life in Germany iseasier,” Jinan Abi Jumaa (MS ‘15) says.“Everything is organized. Many servicesare provided. There are flexible workschedules, and you earn a decentsalary. In Lebanon, if you don’t know apolitician, you can’t get anywhere.” Abi Jumaa graduated from AUB with adegree in Public Health and nowstudies and works in mental health atCharité Hospital, through an affiliationwith Humboldt University.

She came to Berlin because she wantedto expand on the training she receivedin healthcare management at AUB.She’s also found an opportunity tocontribute to easing the crisis at homeby volunteering at facilities for Syrianyouth.

Touma and Abi Jumaa are aware thattheir transition to life in Germany hasbeen quite different than it will be formany of those now entering thecountry. Before his move, Touma hadvisited Germany for work reasons, andhe had studied some German at theGoethe Institute in Beirut. He quicklyfound a job with Philips Healthcare inDusseldorf.

“I was pleasantly surprised that I wascomparatively quite skilled, that myAUB education had prepared me verywell,” Touma says. “In some ways Icould overshadow my colleagues. I puta lot of effort into my work and saw thatit was very much appreciated, so Iadvanced quite quickly in thecompany.”

Ghida Haidar-Adis (BS ‘88) met her ownGerman spouse at AUB, where he alsostudied, and they moved to Germanytogether in 1990. Haidar-Adis startedout working as a part-time Arabicteacher and even wrote a book aboutteaching Arabic to Germans. She nowputs her AUB degree in environmentalhealth to good use as a consultant,responsible for clarifyingenvironmental compliance regulationsin various MENA countries for productsmanufactured by the companies sherepresents. She also freelances for “thecenter for political education in thestate of Baden-Württemberg,” she says.“I give lectures and hold seminars ondifferent themes, such as Islam,Muslims in Germany, Salafism, and theattractiveness of ISIS for young people.”

She sees clear value in this work.“When I came to Germany, teachingArabic, people asked why I didn’t weara hijab,” she says. “I explained that I’mfrom Lebanon, which is different.”

Born to a Lebanese father and aGerman mother, another AUB graduateAida Sayegh grew up frequently visitingGermany and went to school there in1976-77. “My family went back toLebanon in 1977,” she says. “It lookedpeaceful, but then the war broke outagain. Because of everything I wentthrough, I know what the migrants aretalking about. I passed through thebombardments and the shooting.”

Sayegh moved to Germany with herLebanese spouse, at his urging, in 1996.She came to her work with Syrianrefugees at Haus St. Michael, under the

Impact

An Insider’s Perspectiveon a New OutsiderLebanese AUB graduates discuss their experiences living and working in germany

amidst a new influx of Syrian refugees.

“When I came toGermany, teachingArabic, people askedwhy I didn’t wear a

hijab. I explained thatI’m from Lebanon,which is different.”

4746

umbrella of the NGO Caritas, in partbecause she could personally relate totheir experience. Her current workinvolves supporting young refugees,including Syrians, Afghans, andEritreans. Her organization aims to actas a guardian for 14- to 18-year-oldrefugees who came to Germany on theirown. “Our job is to guide theseyoungsters through school—withhomework, with teachers, learningpunctuality,” she says. Sayegh workswith two groups of 12. “In school, theroadblock is language. We deal withthree kinds of people: some who can’tread or write in any language; somewho can read and write Arabic; andsome who can read Latin script.”

Sayegh points to the diversity of pathsthat immigrants have taken to Germany,disparities that matter. “There’s adifference between the ones who grewup in a secure environment and thosewho lived through difficulties duringtrips from Syria or Afghanistan,”Sayegh says. “Some went through thedesert and had to drink their own urine.Or they were in jail for months in Libyaor were abused along the way.”

Abi Jumaa makes similar observations.“Many of those I work with aresuffering from psychologicalproblems,” she says. “One woman toldme her son is becoming very aggressive,having fights in the street and thingslike that.” Abi Jumaa suggests that,because the young man’s father is stillin Syria, the son could be struggling tofill his role.

If they are optimistic about the future,these AUB graduates say, it is becauseof their faith in German idealism andpragmatism. “Germans seem cool aboutthe situation,” Abi Jumaa says. “I thinkGermany is accepting these refugees notjust from a humanitarian point of view,but also they are being realistic becausethey need workers.” In the 1950s and1960s, Germany welcomed anothercontroversial influx of foreign guestworkers; public sentiment shifted whenthe economy slumped.

For Sayegh, optimism is more than asentiment: “I’m hopeful for the refugeesand for Germany’s future,” she says.“After World War II, Turks, Spaniardsand others came—they were integrated.But the next generation was not wellintegrated. Germany is learning fromthose mistakes. It doesn’t wantsubcultures. It wants the nextgeneration to feel more assimilated, toteach them how to get along…. We needthe manpower, and the earlier we getthem to integrate and feel part of thesystem, the better.”

Touma, however, worries, both about aright-wing backlash among Germans—though he doesn’t think it will becomeviolent or gain a majority in next year’selections—and also about Syrians whofail to adapt to the new culture.Touma’s German wife volunteers in anearby shelter for Syrian refugees,organizing and managing the schoolthat has been provided for children and youth. “The younger, educatedSyrian who is willing to work hard to adapt to the culture will succeed,”he says. “But those withouteducation will be frustrated andmay turn to groups that mighthave a negative attitude...I knowhow they feel. My family washit badly at one point, and[we] had to leave our house inthe Metn because of thebombardment.”

Touma and his fellowexpatriates form part of anew generation with tiesin both Europe and

Lebanon, a fact recognized by theGerman AUB Alumni Association.Touma takes his two children (ages 18and 21) for frequent visits to Lebanonand his German in-laws have joinedthem on several occasions.

Haidar-Adis’s 17- and 20-year-oldchildren visit Lebanon less frequently,but both “are very attached to thecountry,” she says. “They’re half-half.They speak Arabic, but are German.”Sayegh’s 21- and 24-year-old daughtershave German and Lebanese passports.The eldest will soon go to Lebanon for a six-month internship.

Sayegh sees elements of German andLebanese culture in her own behavior.“When I have an appointment,” shesays, “I make it on time, I’m punctual.But socially, I’m more flexible, more like Lebanon.”

For the time being, Abi Jumaa is inBerlin for her studies. “Now I’mlearning German, so it’s easier,” shesays. “I’m having culture shock, but in a positive way.”

-N.B.

“I think Germany isaccepting these

refugees not just from ahumanitarian point ofview, but . . . becausethey need workers.”

This winter, roughly six months afterBeirut’s trash management system firstground to a halt, AUB’s Solid WasteManagement Task Force released its“Guide to Municipal Solid WasteManagement.” A 34-page manual, filledwith flow charts, graphs, and tables, itoffers a waste management roadmapfor the country’s municipalities.

AUB Professor of Chemistry, Director ofthe Nature Conservation Center, and acontributing author, Najat Saliba notes,“The Task Force has delivered researchoutcomes that have already influencedpolicy. The manual as designed couldbe adopted by municipalities, group ofmunicipalities and ministries toimplement different size solid wastemanagement plans.”

The manual begins with the consumer,calling for residents to sort theirhousehold waste into one of threecategories: recyclables (e.g. bottles,cans, paper), organics (e.g. fruit, meat,garden waste), and other (e.g. clothes,batteries, hazardous materials).

As the manual recommends,recyclables should then be taken to aMaterial Recovery Facility (MRF), afactory-like building, replete withsorting machines and conveyor beltsthat sorts waste by category thenprepare it for reuse. Just think “recycledpaper.”

As for organic waste, the manualsuggests that the MRF first screen forsharp objects, which go to landfills,then sort what can be shredded, andmake use of a composting system tospeed up biodegradation. The resultingcompost can then be sold on to theagricultural industry.

Finally, waste from the “other” categoryshould be collected by specializedcompanies, like Ziad Abichaker’s CedarEnvironmental (mentioned on page 27),that innovate to produce new productsfrom recycled materials, like greenwalls from old pills.

Landfills shouldn’t sit idle, the manualadvises: gas can be piped out ofgarbage piles and used for energyproduction.

The manual’s recommendations, drawnfrom extensive research and publicsurveys in cities like Beirut, areambitious and prize efficiency. And yetthe Task Force understands that itsroadmap may not be ideal, or evenfeasible, for certain municipalities,specifically for dense urban areas likeBeirut and Tripoli.

AUB Professor of Environmental HealthMay Massoud, who is one of themanual’s primary authors, hopes thatthe document will guide municipalitiestoward sustainable waste managementsolutions: “I believe that among theroot causes of the solid waste crisis inLebanon is the lack of an integratedsystem.”

Guiding Lebanon Outof Its Trash Crisis

Impact48

52The Reveal Mira Kaddoura (BGD ’00) connects, creates, and innovates

50

56

WAAAUB Events andAnnouncements

With lively, thought-provoking programs and a spectacular gala dinner, theWAAAUB 7th Annual Convention generates buzz

AUB EverywhereAlumni lives in action, wAAAUB and chapter news, every day and extraordinaryclass notes, and unexpected revelations

WAAAUB Aroundthe Globe

Alumni mix and mingles: dinners, talks, outdoor outings, and more . . . 54

Searching for the Edgeof the Universe

Trace George Helou’s (BS ’75) life path from stargazer to pioneeringastronomer

53

Class Notes An update from two class correspondents from the FEA Class of 1966Notes from ten-year anniversary grads

Searching forthe Edge ofthe Universe

Alumni Profile

George Helou, a research professor anddirector of the Infrared Processing andAnalysis Center (IPAC) at the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology (Caltech), hasused infrared astronomy to make smalldents in large questions: Why are wehere? Are we alone in the universe?What binds us, on an elemental level,with all that exists?

From his office in Pasadena, Heloudirects data collection anddissemination for two space telescopes,Spitzer and NEOWISE. Theseinstruments, or “observatories,” asIPAC’s staff calls them, wear theequivalent of infrared goggles as theymove through space, in search of eye-popping phenomena. By combiningdata from Spitzer and the Hubbletelescope, astronomers at Caltech andelsewhere have been able to pinpointthe most distant galaxies, thoseliterally at the edge of the universe.Spitzer also detected the first rays oflight from exoplanets, planets orbitingstars other than our Sun, which areamong the most plausible locations forextraterrestrial life.

As director of IPAC, Helou is both ascientist and an administrator. Heoversees a team that schedulesobservations for the telescopes,maintains the 15 (and growing)petabytes of data from them, andcirculates these data amongastronomers around the globe. Thedata also feeds his own scientific work.Analyzing data from the Infrared SpaceObservatory, a space telescopelaunched by the European SpaceAgency in 1995, and from Spitzer,Helou was able to prove the ubiquity ofpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,organic compounds containing onlycarbon and hydrogen, throughout the universe. “These are a set ofmolecules probably involved in thechemistry of life,” he says. Once youhave gas enriched with carbon andoxygen and nitrogen, complexcompounds quickly follow, leading to the formation of stars and planets,he explains.

The origins of Helou’s journey to theedge of the universe and its birth lie inBeirut’s suburbs in the 1960s. “When I

AUB Everywhere

Over the course of his career, george Helou (BS ‘75) has helped advance our understanding of the most distant galaxies, quasars, and the nature of the universe.

went up to the village in themountains, the air was so clean, thesky was so dark and filled with stars—Iwas mesmerized,” he recalls. He wasalready reading voraciously, mostlyabout science. “I realized little by littlehow far away things were.” Yet, untilhe arrived at AUB, Helou remainedunsure of how practical his passionmight be in a country that, according tohim, valued education only so long asit translated into a lucrative career.Inspiration, he says, was “tempered byreality.”

Fortunately, his mentors at AUBsupported his desire to pursue science for its own sake. Physicsprofessor Khalil Bitar, who taughtHelou at AUB, remembers his formerstudent’s unique spirit: “He wasn’tyour typical undergrad. He wasn’tchasing women and parties. He came in with a purpose.”

Bitar and others recognized thatpurpose and helped Helou reach hisnext destination, Cornell University.There he worked with legendaryastronomers Carl Sagan and FrankDrake on the Voyager Golden Record,phonographs designed to showcase thedazzling diversity of humancivilization, that went out with theVoyager spacecraft in 1977. “It wasengaging for me because I had to thinkoutside of cultural norms, and I had already seen how differentcultures color the human experience,”he says. “That summer was as muchfun as I’ve ever had.”

After earning his doctorate at Cornell,Helou intended to return home but theCivil War changed his mind. Sensingthe scientific potential of the newlylaunched Infrared AstronomicalSatellite (IRAS), he took a position atCaltech, IRAS’s mission control. Fromthat point on, his life fell into lockstepwith the march of deep spaceexploration into the farthest reaches ofthe universe.

By comparing infrared data from IRASwith data from radio observatoriesconcerning magnetic fields, Helou wasable to show that the ratio of large starsto small ones was similar acrossgalaxies. “I found that every galaxyhas a magnetic field and that thestrength of that magnetic field isrelated to the density of gas in it,” he says.

After IRAS, Helou lobbied for NASAparticipation in ISO, another infraredtelescope launched by the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA): “I said, this is going to do great science, let’s have Americans be a part of it,” he remembers.

Helou has since helped oversee thelaunches of Spitzer and NEOWISE,which looks for near-earth asteroids,and built out IPAC as a science centeron Caltech’s Pasadena campus. Hemanages IPAC’s annual budget of $40million dollars.

He also mentors Caltech’s students on their own journeys into spaceexploration. “He is a natural leaderwho puts people first, and he helpedme advocate for my own research,”says Daniel Dale, professor of physicsat the University of Wyoming. Another former student, Eric Murphy,now research scientist at Caltech,remembers the hundreds of hours

he spent surveying nearby galaxiesunder Helou’s supervision.

Helou says he views the support of hiswife, Andrée, and his children, Arianeand Marc, as critical to his ownsuccess, acknowledging the sacrifices ascientist’s family must make. “It’s not a9-to-5 job,” he says.

Beyond Caltech, Helou keeps his fingeron astronomy’s pulse nationally. “Ilook at the astronomy budgets acrossthe US, particularly the budgets ofNASA and [the National ScienceFoundation], because that tricklesdown,” he says. “This year is better.But I worry about the long-term trend.Spending on physical science has notkept up with GDP.”

His chosen field has unique budgetarychallenges. “Astronomy requires largeinvestments,” he says. “You cannothave the breakthroughs from Spitzer orHubble if you never build a billion-dollar facility and launch it intospace.”

Helou suggests that astronomy satisfiesa fundamental human curiosity,curiosity he aims to ignite and keepburning in Lebanon. As the presidentof the Lebanese Academy of Sciences,he encourages both scientific literacyamong the broader population anduniversity-level research throughexchange programs between Lebaneseand US faculty.

In a nod to the power of astronomy, hecites Carl Sagan’s description of earthas “a pale blue dot,” remarking that“all the empires ever built, all the lovestories ever told, all happened on thistiny speck in space. Maybe, whenpeople recognize our insignificance,they will stop fighting.”

“You cannot havethe breakthroughsfrom Spitzer or

Hubble if you neverbuild a billion

dollar facility andlaunch it into

space.”

5150

AUB Everywhere

Mira Kaddoura (BGD ’00) createsbeautiful, innovative, and meaningfulwork through advertising, design,technology, and provocative artinstallations. Having landed her dreamjob right out of grad school at theacclaimed advertising agencyWieden+Kennedy, Mira left after 10years of creating groundbreaking adcampaigns to free up some time forpure invention. It could be thatgrowing up in the polarized world ofLebanon’s civil war infused her with aburning passion to resolve conflict andconnect people to their better selves.

Mira attributes her laser-focused, free-floating drive to a family environmentthat encouraged freedom of expression,compassion, and caring. Her parentsraised her and her brothers to becitizens of the world; to explorereligions and cultures, and to find andlive by, not accepted realities, butuniversal truths.  Be transparent,honest, respectful, and caring. Thatmay sound like a slogan, but Miraknows that these values have

unplumbed meaning, and that miningthat meaning can transform the world.

“Super early in my career I had theopportunity to inspire and move peopleworking on Nike at the best agency inthe world. After a while, I felt that itwas time for me to scare and challengemyself, and see what I could do outsidethe walls of a big advertising agency. Idecided to do a conceptual interactiveproject that would create a meaningfulconversation about a subject I am verypassionate about. The Wonder Clock, awearable biological clock, launched atArt Basel, and got picked up by everypress agency in the world. That led meto start digging deeper into the powerof technology. After a series of freelanceprojects with brands like GE andTwitter, I decided that it was time tostart an agency where I could combinethree things I’m passionate about:Power of Advertising + Technology +Solving problems that matter. Whetherworking on advertising projects or artinstallations, I feel the more personalthe work, the more universal it is.”

Bringing girls up to Code

Kaddoura established Red & Co., acreative and innovation agency, in 2013.In short order Google approached herfor help in rectifying a troubling genderimbalance that exists in technology.Could Red & Co. get girls interested in coding?  

Kaddoura was galvanized by the scopeof the problem. “Less than 1% of highschool girls are interested in computerscience. If less than 1% of girls arecreating all the technology we’re using,then that means that girls/women haveno voice whatsoever in creating theworld we live in.”

She created one of Google’s mostsignificant and ambitious marketinginitiatives to date, MadewithCode, anonline community and learningplatform that inspires girls throughmentoring and engages them withcreative coding projects in fashion,music, and design. Learn moreat:http://www.redandco.com/

The Reveal

Connect (inspire), Provoke (expose), Engage (move), Fix (make better),and (above all) Change (perceptions)

- Born in Alexandria, Egypt,

grew up in Beirut and

Toronto.

- (MS ’02) Virginia

Commonwealth (mass

communication and

advertising, four honors)

- AUB Distinguished Alumni

Achievement Award (2010).

- Created Nike’s I feel

Pretty, The Girl Effect, Nike

Body Parts, and many

others.

- Over 45 international

awards including several

Gold Lions at Cannes, Ted

Ad Worth Spreading,

Communications Arts,

Webbys, Clios, One Shows,

British Television Award,

and Andy Awards.

- Lectures at universities

and conferences around

the world.

AUB Everywhere

WAAAUB Events and Announcements

7th Annual WAAAUB ConventionJanuary 22-23

WAAAUB New Year’s Eve

1. WAAAUB’s 7th Annual Convention OpeningCeremony took place on Friday evening January22, at the Olayan School of Business MaamariAuditorium. President Fadlo R. Khuri, WAAAUBPresident Wafa Saab, and keynote speakerneemat g. Frem (BEN ’91) are pictured withother distinguished guests.

2. “Being Global: Insights from Prominent AlumniAssociations” a panel discussion withmoderator Mark daou (BBA ‘00) andparticipants nicolas Chammas (BEN ‘85)representing MIT, WAAAUB President wafa

Saab (EMBA ’07), nagy Rizk (BEN ‘86)representing INSEAD, and Lamia Rustom

Shehadeh (BA ‘61) representing HarvardUniversity.

3. WAAAUB President Wafa Saab presentsPresident Fadlo R. Khuri with acommemorative tray on the occasion of theConvention gala dinner, held in the GrandBallroom of the Phoenicia Hotel on Saturday,January 23, in conjunction with theinauguration of Dr. Fadlo R. Khuri as AUB’s16th president, and the launch of celebrationsfor the University’s 150th anniversary.

Le MaillonBeirut31 Dec 2015

1

2

5352

tALK AnddInnER

US history lectureby Dr. EdwardPapenfuseMedSTAR UnionMemorial HospitalAuditoriumAmbassadorIndian Restaurant 14 January, 2016

Baltimore

MAKIng A dIFFEREnCE

On October 10, 2015, the Michigan Chapter held a fundraisingdinner at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn,Michigan to raise money for their newly established Needy

Patient Fund. Mobilized by the extreme hardships in Lebanonbrought about by regional instability, their goal is “to assist in

providing medical care and to ensure that young lives receive thequality care they are entitled to, regardless of their financial

means. No patient should die or suffer due to lack of funds.” Toassist in this effort, chapter members Fawwaz Ulaby, PhD (BS

’64) and Ghassan Saab (BEN ’66) started a challenge fund,matching every gift, dollar for dollar. The Chapter hopes to raise

$25,000 annually but they need your support. Your US taxdeductible gift can be made online to the “WAAAUB Michigan

Chapter Needy Patient Fund” at: https://give.aub.edu.lb/

“We have a number of community-led initiatives in place to helpcover the cost of diagnosis and treatment of patients with limitedmeans; however, the demand exceeds our funding. We thank the

Michigan Chapter for sharing our vision to treat as many childrenand young adults as possible, irrespective of their ability to pay.”

Dr. Hassan El Solh, AUBMC Chief of Staff

Michigan

WAAAUB Around the Globe Visit the WAAAUB website at www.aub.edu.lb/alumni to find a chapter near you and to learn aboutupcoming events. WAAAUB’s newsletter Al Jame’a features coverage of WAAAUB chapter holiday parties across the globe. Visit: www.aub.edu.lb/alumni/newsandstories/

United States

MIx & MIngLE

Mary’z LebaneseCuisineHouston, TX6 January, 2016

Houston

AUB Everywhere

AUB/LAUtOUR wItHARtISt wALIdRAAd

Museum ofModern ArtNew York, NY13 January, 2016

New York

nEtwORKIngEvEnt

HealthcareHarvard@TrilogyBoston, MA22 November, 2015

New England

LUnCHEOn

MazahMediterraneanEatery Columbus, OH6 December, 2015

Ohio Valley

AnnUAL gALAdInnER

Afrah Ballroom,Grand HyattMuscat6 November, 2015

Oman

5554

www.flickr.com/photos/aubalumni/

Canada

RECEPtIOn

for new OSB DeanSteve Harvey27 November, 2015

Montreal Middle East

OUtdOORS

Family Day OutDesert, sanddunes andbeaches6 November, 2015

Qatar Professional ChaptersHOLIdAy PARty

Blue Note CaféBeirut4 December, 2015

Nursing

SILvER JUBILEE REUnIOn

Event honored: Deans Adnan Mroueh, MD; SamirAtweh, MD; Camille Nassar, MD and former Dean’s

Office Secretary Zeina Jureidini.

Attendees: 19 physicians, (10 practicing in Lebanon).

Sent short videos: 21 classmates not able to attend.

Sent written updates: 20 classmates notable to attend.

Personalized memorabilia given to attendees:framed graduation tam with silver tassel.

Movenpick Resort Beirut14 August, 2015

Medical Alumni

AUB Everywhere

Happy Anniversary AUB grads!

ghazi q. Hassoun (BS ’56) Afterearning his bachelor’s degree inphysics, Ghazi went on to earn amaster’s degree (’59) and doctorate (’63)in theoretical physics from theUniversity of Minnesota. He published a memoir, Walking Out Into theSunshine: Recollections and Reflections,a Palestinian Personal Experience,including two chapters in which herecalls his years at AUB with nostalgiaand affection. A professor emeritus atNorth Dakota University in Fargo, NorthDakota, Ghazi winters in Naples,Florida. [lghassoun@msn.com]

Riad n. Kallas (BBA ’56) retired fromNCR Corporation after 34 years ofservice that began in Damascus, Syriaand ended in Dayton, Ohio with interimassignments in Bogota, Colombia;Beirut; and Panama City, Panama. Riadcurrently lives in Dayton with his wife of48 years, Aida Z. Kallas. Their son Haniis a partner in a law firm in Cincinnati,Ohio, and their daughter Rula is vicepresident of a small IT company in SanFrancisco, California.[riadkallas@ameritech.net]

nadeem n. naimy, Phd (BA ’53, MA ’56) joined what is now called theDepartment of Arabic and Near Eastern

Languages as an instructor in IslamicPhilosophy in 1963, after having earneda PhD in Arabic literature from theUniversity of Cambridge in the UK. Aprofessor at AUB for many years,Nadeem now teaches there part-time.From 2002-09, he was Dean of theSchool of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Balamand, Lebanon.Nadeem has participated in severalacademic conferences throughout theworld. He has contributed to scholarlymagazines, and is the author of severalworks, including (in English) TheLebanese Prophets of New York andMikhail Naimy: An Introduction, and (in Arabic) Art and Life, The Way to theGreater Self, and Modernity and Culture.In addition, he translated into Arabicand edited The Complete English Worksof Khalil Gibran. [nnaimy@aub.edu.lb]

Macy Akel wyatt, Phd (BA ’56) is aprofessor emeritus of psychology fromGeorgetown College and a licensedcounseling psychologist in the state ofKentucky. The proud recipient of anhonorary degree from GeorgetownCollege and the Kentucky PsychologicalAssociation’s Distinguished Career inPsychology Award, Macy writes, “Ithank AUB for instilling in me a thirstfor learning that has continued tomotivate me, even in retirement.” Shehas co-authored two books and servedon the boards of two local non-profits.Macy is also the proud mother of awonderful son, who is employed by JetPropulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California. [macywyatt@aol.com]

Ken touryan, Phd (former engineeringstudent, 1953-56) writes, “I had toemigrate to the United States with myfamily (as former Palestinian refugees). I received my doctorate from Princeton

University. I have many fond memoriesof my time at AUB, and to this day I getnostalgic as I listen to the AUB almamater song. My saddest memory,though, is the assassination of PresidentMalcolm Kerr in 1984, shortly after I haddinner with him, during one of my manyvisits to my country of birth, Lebanon.On the other hand, an unplanned,happy reunion happened in Armeniathis year with four of my AUBclassmates (Class of 1958) when theywere visiting the American University of Armenia, where I am a visitingprofessor.” [kenell@comcast.net]

To friends and fellows of the FEA Classof 1966,

In addition to AUB’s 150th Anniversary,2016 is the 50th reunion year for theClass of 1966. For all of us, the directionof our lives was set by the years wespent at FEA, and that has been thebasis of an unbreakable bond. We hopeyou enjoy news we’ve gathered for you so far. Please send us yours at:[raymourtada@yahoo.com] and[mmap@cyberia.net.lb]

Class Notes

60 YearAnniversary

“I thank AUBfor instillingin me a thirstfor learning

that hascontinued tomotivate me,

even inretirement.”

Macy Akel Wyatt, PhD (BA ’56)

Class CorrespondentsFEA Class of 1966Riad Mourtada and Malek Mahmassani

5756

Classmate newsA group of 22donated jointlytowards the lobby inthe new Irani OxyEngineeringComplex.

Hisham Jaroudi: Hisham has served as treasurer and board member of theMakassed Association for the past 30years. Since 1989, he has been presidentof Al-Riyadi Basketball Club, which hasfamously produced trophy-winningteams throughout Lebanon, the ArabWorld, and Asia. A very active supporterof AUB, Hisham has made majordonations to several significant AUBrenovations, including the BechtelBuilding lobby, the AUBMC MainBuilding lobby, its MedicalAdministration building, and theauditorium of the Hariri School ofNursing. He is now on the AUB Board of Trustees.

dr. Fadlo touma: Fadlo’s career isdedicated to geotechnical engineeringin the United States, Lebanon, and theGulf. Together with his son John, he is supporting and conducting jointresearch with FEA. He recently donated a state-of-the-art geotechnicallaboratory in the Irani Oxy EngineeringComplex, named after him and his wife Justine.

ghassan Saab: After graduation,Ghassan left for Flint, Michigan in the United States to work with theconstruction company Sorenson Grosswhere he had trained the summerbefore. He soon owned the company.Over many years he has partnered with local foundations to revitalize his community. Ghassan and his wife Manal have been widely recognized for theirphilanthropy and service and are therecipients of several merit awards.

nabil nahas: Since 2009, Nabil hasserved as president of the Society of the Friends of the Museum at AUB. Heencourages all of his classmates to visitthis newly renovated, world-classmuseum and become members of theSociety.

Malek Mahmassani: This year, Malekwas elected to the WAAAUB Council. Inaddition, he serves on WAAAUB’sGovernance Committee.

Beirut newsA new FEA tradition has beenestablished for the past few yearsamong classmates present in Lebanonand those coming from abroad. Everythree or four weeks Riad Mourtadaorganizes and Malek Mahmassaniphotographs get-together luncheonsheld at Lina’s Downtown or at Fresh, thebio-restaurant owned by Fadlo Touma’sdaughter Danielle. The resulting ‘media coverage’ is edited and posted via emailby Malek Mahmassani. Memories arehighlighted, news is exchanged, andnew activities are planned.

Other ‘happy’ events with spousesinclude various dinner invitations athomes or restaurants and lunches onweekends, the latest being at Fadlo Touma’s ‘Domaine Chouchan,’ whereGeorges Feghali presented us with thiswonderful poem.

In MemoriamWith deep sorrow and for the record, we list our dear classmates who havepassed away. Our heartfelt condolencesto their families. God bless their souls.Elias Makari, Atef Nakhoul, MajedMusallam, and Shahroukh Mokhtari.

AnnouncementIn conjunction with AUB’s Special 150thAnniversary Reunion July 8 – 10, 2016,the FEA Class of 1966 is planning tocelebrate its 50th reunion withadditional events. These includedinners, field trips, and gatherings.Make sure to join us!

Saad Ajil (BBA ’66) works as anindependent management consultant inDubai, UAE. [saadajil@hotmail.com]

50 Year Anniversary

Reza Kazemi-Shirazi (BS ’66, MS ’68)After receiving her degrees inagriculture, Reza earned a doctoratefrom Iowa State University in 1972. Shejoined the University of Tehran, Iran andis now retired in Vancouver, Canada.She welcomes emails![srkazemi@telus.net]

May S. nabil (BA ’66) writes, “As agraduate of the class of 1966, I would like to share a note of gratitude andlove. The year I graduated coincidedwith AUB's 100th anniversary, whichmade my graduation very special.Lebanon was then a magical place andAUB was the place to be. I walked toclass every morning through a lushgreen campus with a view of theMediterranean Sea. Beauty, knowledge,fun, and enrichment came together inone place. I will always cherish thesememories and look forward to meetingalumni this summer to celebrate AUB’s150th anniversary.”[tahermay@gmail.com]

Usamah Shahwan, Phd (BA ’66, MA’76) earned a PhD at the University ofSouthern California in 1984. Currently,he is a faculty member in the MBAprogram at Hebron University and apart-time faculty member in themaster’s program for InternationalCooperation and Development (MICAD)at Bethlehem University in Palestine,where he also serves as academiccoordinator for the publicadministration professional diploma.Usamah is a freelance consultant for anumber of local and internationalagencies. [osamash@hebron.edu]

Fawzi Sultan, Phd (BA ’66) lives inKuwait with his wife Fadila, son Hamad,and daughter Nouf. His youngest sonNaser works in Dubai. Fawzi is retiredbut still active on the boards ofinternational water and agriculturalresearch centers and private companies.For the last few years, he has enjoyedyacht sailing and racing in Dubai andMuscat.

Basimah yousif (BS ’66) graduatedwith a degree in statistics and thenearned a master’s degree at University of Kent, UK in 1977. She is now retiredand living in Highland, California.[ybisa@hotmail.com]

Fairouz Farah Sarkis (MA ’76) earnedher master’s degree in mathematicseducation and a doctorate in the subjectfrom the University of London in 1981. In1996, she joined Lebanese University,where she was appointed head of theOffice of External Projects and generalsecretary of the Scientific Council.Fairouz has served as the director of theArab Open University in Lebanon since2001. The author of a series ofmathematics school textbooks, Fairouzwas the national point of contact for theEuropean Commission on ResearchFrameworks from 2004-11.

Muna Sami Jaafar (MS ’76) is thewidow of Nabil Chaar. She received hermaster’s degree in pharmacy and ispresently retired. [mjchaar@gmail.com]

Mohammad Ali Sinno (BEN ’76)majored in mechanical engineering. Heis currently a director of Qatari DiarSaudi BinLadin Group (QD SBG) andworks in Qatar at Hamad InternationalAirport where he leads a team of 1,200employees and is responsible for theoperation and maintenance of theutilities systems. [msinno@qdsbg-om.com]

Sahar Alam (BA ’83, MBA ’86) writes,“As a child of Dr. Isam Jamil Alam (BA’52, MD ’56), one of the first AUB MDdoctors to practice in Amman, Jordan, I had a connection with this institutionthat surpassed my university years.After graduating with BA and MBAdegrees, I continued serving on theWAAAUB Council as a member of thePrograms Committee. Currently, I livewith my husband and two daughters in Beirut. I am the president of a localNGO, the Society for DevelopmentStudies, and I also work part-time as a university instructor.”[saharalam6@gmail.com]

Joe Ayache (BA ’86) graduated with adegree in economics and then went toParis to study advertising. He has spentsome 33 years in the field and currentlyserves as group managing director ofImpact BBDO, the leadingcommunications group in Lebanon and the Middle East.[j.ayache@impactbbdo.com.lb][j_ayache@hotmail.com]

Sayyed Mohammad Arabi Azzouzi(BA ’86) graduated with a degree ineconomics. He has worked in Lebanon,Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, where hecurrently lives. Mohammad works as ageneral manager at the Bustan AlWataniya Trading Company.[azouzim@hotmail.com]

Manahel Bitar (BS ’79, MA ’86) earnedher undergraduate degree in chemistry,a Teaching Diploma and a master’sdegree in science education. She alsoholds an International EducationLeadership Certificate from thePrincipal’s Training Center. She iscurrently the director of La Cite

AUB Everywhere

40 YearAnniversary

30 YearAnniversary

“I will alwayscherish thesememories andlook forward tomeeting alumnithis summer tocelebrate AUB’s

150thanniversary.”

May S. Nabil(BA ’66)

5958

Culturelle, a Pre-K through 12th gradeelementary school situated in Khaldeh,Choueifat, Lebanon.[mkobeissy25@gmail.com][mkobeissy@hotmail.com]

Imad Hamzé (BS ’86, MS ’91) is agraduate of FAFS. He writes, “The bestof my university years were when wewent to AREC. A few of my classmates:Rabi Sabra (BS ’86, MS ’89), BilalHamieh (BS ’86), Amin nuwayri (BS’86), Remy Milad (BS ’86), and I took anAUH car via Karameh Road, passing byShemlan Road, meeting up with othercolleagues from AUB and from the OffCampus Program (OCP) on the ARECfarms. United with the OCP students for the first time after a few years ofseparation due to the civil war was aremarkably lovely experience and onethat certainly stressed the AUB way of life. I am now serving as theinternational economic developmentexpert in South Tunisia. Formerly Iworked as a lecturer at FAFS and as a team leader, chief of party, andcountry director with internationalorganizations and development banksin Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco,Palestine, Maldives, and in Canada, my second country.”

Hadi Jaber (BBA ’86) joined theLebanese Diplomatic Corps on April 9,1999. He is currently the chargéd’affaires in the Lebanese Embassy inYemen.

Hassan Hussein Khalife (BEN ’86)With his degree in civil engineering,Hassan founded Khalife Engineeringand Contracting in 1990. Located inSaida, Lebanon and in Al-Basra, Iraq,the company focuses on buildingconstruction and infrastructure.[khalifeh_eng@yahoo.com]

ziad Khatib (BS ’83, MD ’86) completedhis residency at Jackson MemorialHospital in Miami, Florida and afellowship in hematology-oncology atSt. Jude Children’s Research Hospital inMemphis, Tennessee. He is a fellow ofthe American Academy of Pediatricsand a member of several medicalsocieties. The director of neuro-oncology at Miami’s Nicklaus Children’sHospital where he has been practicingfor over 23 years, Ziad is also a clinicalassociate professor at FloridaInternational University HerbertWertheim College of Medicine. Heconducts research studies on newapproaches for cancer treatment, braintumors in children, retinoblastoma,vascular and lymphatic malformations,stroke and thrombosis, cancer genetics,and complementary and integrativeapproaches to brain tumors. Ziad andhis wife Randa Mnaymneh recentlycelebrated their 25th anniversary. Theyhave two children: Laila (19), pre-med atBoston University, and Sami (17), a highschool student. [Ziad.Khatib@mch.com][Ziad.Khatib@mch.com]

Jurji Rustom (BS ’82, MD ’86) is livingin Batroun, North Lebanon, where hepractices general surgery at BatrounHospital and where he has served ashead of the Administrative Board since2009. Jurji and his wife Rania dibbs (BS’87, MD ’91) have two children who areAUB students: Lilia (Graphic Design)and Estephan (Computer Science).[jrls10@hotmail.com]

Maher taleb (BA ’86) moved to Canadain 1995. He is a single dad of tworemarkable young men, Omar (16) andHamzah (13). In addition to being awealth management adviser based inOakville, Ontario where he is supportedby a team of three advisers, Maher is theadviser care manager for CanfinFinancial Group of Companies, wherehe coaches about 100 advisers to buildand expand their practice. In the lastfew years, Canfin started a globalexpansion by offering financialplanning services to internationalclients, mainly Canadians residingoutside Canada. Maher is the managing

director for the Middle East and Africaservicing clients in Lebanon, Jordan,Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman,and Ghana. [mtaleb@Canfin.com][www.mahertaleb.canfin.com]

Imad tarabay (BEN ’86) writes that 29years after graduating from AUB, thebest educational institution in theMiddle East, he is glad to help MainGatecelebrate AUB’s 150th anniversary: “TheUniversity is a dream for every studentin our region. I owe a lot to AUB, whichwas, and still is a passport to asuccessful life.” Imad is currentlyworking in Saudi Arabia as generalmanager for Al Masheed InternationalDevelopment Ltd. Company, which doesgeneral contracting. He is also a partnerin an aluminum contracting company inLebanon called ALUCON s.a.r.l. Imad’sson Wael is studying civil engineering atLAU (class of 2016), and his daughterRana is a first year business student atAUB’s Olayan School of Business.[Imedtr@hotmail.com]

ghassan A. Abdel Rahman (BEN ’88,EMBA ’06) joined Midas Group in 1989and is currently a group managingpartner of MDS Site & Power activities inUAE. He is a very active alumnus andhas served as a WAAAUB councilmember; on WAAAUB leadershipcommittees where he helped establishthe professional Executive MBA (EMBA)Chapter; and in the Abu Dhabi Chapter.Ghassan has also served as a contestjudge for OSB’s Darwazah StudentInnovation Contest, and is a member of AUB’s President’s Club. His oldestdaughter Lynn is a third year graphicdesign student at AUB.[Ghassan@mdsuae.ae]

AUB Everywhere

ghazwa darwiche (BS ’96) is workingas a project manager for a consultingfirm offering software development andchange management to various clientsin North America. She lives in Montreal,Canada[ghazwa_darwish@hotmail.com]

Mazen Fawwaz (BEN ’96) earned hisdegree in communications andcomputer engineering. He writes, “Since2004, I have resided in one of the mostlivable cities in the world, Vancouver,British Columbia, Canada. I still enjoythe academic environment and work atSimon Fraser University as a networkoperations manager on the mainuniversity campus.”

Joceline Fransawi (BA ’96) writes, “Ihave been living in Montreal, Canadawith my husband and my two kids since2008. In 2016, I will return to the workthat I started in December 2015 as aprofessional Arabic interpreter, assistingthe Canadian government with thearrival of the Syrian refugees toCanada.” [joceyf@gmail.com]

Alia Ibrahim (BA ’96) is a journalistwho works on long version reportage forthe Al-Arabiya news channel, and writesopinion pieces for several publications.Formerly, she worked for The Daily Star,becoming managing editor there in2002; Dubai TV; and The Washington

Post. She is currently based in Beirut.Alia is married and the mother of two.

Hussein Jundi (BS ’96) is thecommercial director for the Levantregion at Merck, a leading multinationalpharmaceutical company. He iscurrently based in Lebanon.[hussein.jundi@external.merckgroup.com]

noha Mazraani (BS ’90, MA ’96) writes,“While teaching at ACS-Beirut for 13years, I earned a TD and MA ineducation from AUB, and then in 2008,received a doctorate in education fromSaint Joseph University, Beirut. In 2007,I started working abroad: in Cairo atHayah International Academy in Cairo,as the head of Science Department; inAbu Dhabi as a curriculum and staffdevelopment consultant at HorizonPrivate School; and at Enka Schools inIstanbul as the director of curriculumdevelopment. The highlight of myprofessional experience so far has beenworking at the National Center forEducational Research and Developmentin Beirut, developing the Lebanesescience curriculum by writing sciencetextbooks for the elementary schoolstudents. I believe that studying at AUBgave me the skills and the globalmindset to be able to succeed and enjoya productive life!”[nohamazraani@gmail.com]

wissam Sayyour (BEN ’96) currentlyworks in Saudi Arabia with theConsolidated Contractors Company(CCC) where he is a constructionmanager, handling all the mechanicalworks in the Soot Ash Recovery UnitProject.

dalal Michel Moukarzel (TD ’02,MA ’06) earned a PhD in educationalsciences from the University of HauteAlsace in France in 2011. She worked foryears as director of Faculty andInstructional Development at QatarUniversity and as a consultant with theCenter for Teaching and Learning atAUB. Dalal is currently an assistantprofessor and head of the EducationDepartment at the Institute of OrientalLetters, Saint Joseph University.[dalal.moukarzel@gmail.com]

nadine Aboushakra (Barakat) (BBA’06) lives in the United States with herhusband and two kids. She works as aproject manager for a softwareengineering firm.[nadineaboushakra@gmail.com]

Olena Awada (BSN ’06) After workingfor nine years in various hospital jobs,Olena decided to go to graduate school.She is currently in her second year of amaster of science degree program innursing administration at McGillUniversity in Montreal, Canada.[olena.doronina@mail.mcgill.ca]

ghada Merhi Bleik (TD ’06). Afterearning her teaching diploma, Ghada got married and had two beautifulchildren (ages 7 and 2). When her eldestson turned two, she earned a master’sdegree in educational management.Ghada is now a full-time teacher at CityInternational School and a full-timemother as well. She writes that shecannot wait for her kids to be oldenough to embark on college life atAUB. [merhi_gh@hotmail.com]

10 YearAnniversary

20 YearAnniversary

60 61

Abla darwish (BBA ’06) resides inDubai, UAE where she works asmanager for corporate performance atone of the area’s largest holdingcompanies, Meraas Holding.[abladarwish@gmail.com]

Roula El Khoury Fayad (BAR ’06) is an assistant professor of architecture at LAU’s School of Architecture andInterior Design. Her research interestsinclude topics in representation anddesign, design methodology, and urbanplanning. Roula received her BA inarchitecture with a minor in politicalscience. She also holds a master’sdegree in urban planning from HarvardUniversity. She has been recognizedwith several awards and prizes,including the Revisiting Dalieh prize,the Areen Award, F. Azar Award, and the Peter Cook Award. In addition to her full-time position, Roula is anindependent consultant in design,delivering projects from conception toexecution for private homes, offices,

festivals and theatrical productions.[Roulak.fayad@gmail.com][Roula.elkhoury@lau.edu.lb]

Hanan Halwani (MPH ’06) works forUnited Nations Relief and WorksAgency, Lebanon as a field nursingservices officer. She writes, “Although itcame late in my educational studies, myMPH added a lot to my career, helpingme to better direct my work experience,and to develop and evaluate programsand policies aimed at promoting andadvocating for the health ofpopulations.” Married with fourchildren, Hanan is appreciative of thesupport she received from her family,and also from her teachers and mentorsat FHS. “I still have all my notes andeven the handbook from 2005-06!”[h.halwani@unrwa.org]

daniel Kandalaft (MBA ’06) has beenworking in Beirut as a director in theTechnical and Project Management

Division of M1 Real Estate since 2009. He is currently pursuing a degree inmediation and conflict resolution atSaint Joseph University’s ProfessionalCenter of Mediation.[dkandalaft@m1group.com][dek03@aub.edu.lb]

Saly Shamra (BS ’06) writes, “I wasable to realize the benefits of myeducation in human development andcommunity well-being by managing thedietary department at Monla Hospitalfor five years. I also worked on severalinternational non-governmentalprojects in North Lebanon. In 2014, Ibecame a pioneer in the gluten-freebaking industry in Lebanon and theMiddle East region by starting up myown family business, LoCal Wheat-freeBakery. I am currently the managingpartner and dietetic consultant at LoCalWheat-free Bakery, and the monitoringand evaluation manager at the USAIDfunded Lebanon Water Project.”[salyshamra@gmail.com]

Save the date for this historic all-class Reunion!

July 8-10, 2016

You’ll never get another chance to be on campus with alumni friends from around the world and celebrate AUB’s 150th anniversary as well!

This will be a one-of-a-kind alumni celebration and part of the 150th anniversary celebrations

For more info, email us at: alumni@aub.edu.lb

Alumni!WAAAUB 2016 Elections

This year you have the opportunity to nominate two of your fellow alumni as potential candidates for election to the AUB Board of Trustees. One of these nominees will have graduated within the past ten years from AUB.

Please review the profiles of the AUB Trustees here: www.aub.edu.lb/main/about/Pages/bot.aspx and if you would like to nominate someone who would be a suitable candidate to potentially join this esteemed leadership of our alma mater, send your nominations to the WAAAUB Nominations Committee at: nominations-committee@waaaub.org

In MemoriamElias Salim Srouji (MD ’44), was born inNazareth, Palestine in 1921 and passed awayon October 22, 2015, three weeks short of his65th wedding anniversary. After earning hismedical degree, he returned to Nazareth topractice medicine. As the only pediatricianfor the entire Galilee, he was known as the"Hakim," or wise man. In 1967, Srouji movedback to Beirut so that his children could havea better education. In 1976 the Lebanese civilwar prompted a bigger move to OklahomaCity, Oklahoma. There, Srouji became ahighly respected teacher and clinician in

general pediatrics at the Oklahoma UniversityHealth Sciences Center, where he worked forover 21 years until his retirement in 1998 atthe rank of professor of pediatrics. Oklahomaphysicians who trained under Sroujiremember his compassion, knowledge, and good nature. In retirement, Srouji wroteand published Cyclamens from Galilee:Memoirs of a Physician from Nazareth. He is survived by his devoted wife Arlette Effat,daughters Maria and Sana, sons Salim andNabil, nine grandchildren, and eight great- grandchildren.

Alumni

Notices forIn Memoriammay be sent tomaingate@aub.edu.lb

Fauzi Mitri najjar, PhD (BA ’48) was born in1920, in the village of Bishmizzine, Lebanon,and passed away on October 26, 2015 inLansing, Michigan. Forced to put his collegeambitions on hold in 1937, he served in theBritish Army Quartermaster Corp for sevenyears. With the money he saved, Najjar wasable to resume his undergraduate studies,earning his degree in political science withdistinction. Upon graduation, he moved tothe United States to pursue graduate degreesat the University of Chicago (MA ’50, PhD’54), where he also met his wife, Vivian

Berquist, whom he married in 1953. Najjartaught at both his alma maters beforeaccepting a teaching position with theCollege of Social Science at Michigan StateUniversity, where he spent the remainder ofhis academic career. Named a distinguishedprofessor in 1973, Najjar retired in 1987. Heedited three volumes of Alfarabi's writings onpolitical philosophy and published a numberof papers in Islamic thought and institutions.He is survived by his wife, Vivian, his brotherNaim in Lebanon, sons Mitri and Ameen, andsix grandchildren.

Elias Salim Srouji (Md ’44)

Fauzi Mitri najjarPhd (BA ’48)

Sami nassar (BA ’52, MD ’59) was born in1931 and passed away on November 17, 2015. One of the region’s preeminentneurosurgeons who selflessly dedicated hislife to help, heal, and restore hope in thehearts of many, Nassar was a much loved andrespected colleague, teacher, and mentor. Hispassion for medicine took him to the United

States where he trained in neurosurgery atColumbia University Presbyterian Hospitaland was certified by the American Board ofNeurological Surgeons. He joined AUB’sFaculty of Medicine as a clinical instructor in1967, then became assistant professor in 1970and associate professor in 1977. He served aschief of the Division of Neurosurgery from

Sami nassar (BA ’52, Md ’59)

In Memoriam

Alumni

george Rebeiz (BA ’49, MD ’53) Born inBeirut in 1927, Rebeiz passed away onDecember 8, 2015. He was a founding fatherof Lebanese cardiology who pioneeredinvasive and clinical cardiology. A renownedmaster clinician, a dedicated mentor, and aninfluential and passionate teacher, Rebeizshaped the careers of many generations ofdoctors, and inspired countless students inthe art, ethics, and science of medicine. Aftercompleting a fellowship in cardiology at

Harvard Medical School, he began his careerat AUB in 1959, serving as assistant, thenassociate, and finally emeritus professor ofInternal Medicine and Cardiology. In 1970 and 1978, he was a visiting colleague at theUniversity of London. Rebeiz is survived byhis wife Daad (DIPL ’62), a brother Michel,children Helene (BS ’82, MD ’86), Nelly (BS’83, MD ’87), and Abdallah (BS ’92, MD ’96),and three granddaughters.

vera gowlland-debbas (BA ’62) was born ofLebanese parents in Alexandria, Egypt in1943 and passed away in Geneva, Switzerlandin September 2015. The family moved toBeirut in 1956. A few years later,Gowlland-Debbas became an active studentat AUB, serving on the editorial board ofOutlook, giving some memorable stageperformances with the Drama Club, andearning her degree in political science.Following a further family move, she enrolledat the Graduate Institute of InternationalStudies in Geneva where she obtained hermaster’s and doctoral degrees, and where sheworked as a professor of public internationallaw until her retirement. Described as one ofthe leading international lawyers of hergeneration, Gowlland-Debbas specialized inUnited Nations law, refugee law, and humanrights. An acknowledged expert on sanctions,

her book Collective Responses to Illegal Actsin International Law: United Nations Action in the Question of Southern Rhodesia is aseminal work in the field. She lectured andtaught in several countries, was a visitingfellow at All Souls College, Oxford, and heldvisiting professorships at universities inKyoto, Paris, and Berkeley, California. Anoutspoken advocate for Palestinian rightsand a participant in the New York RussellTribunal for Palestine, Gowlland-Debbas was a member of the legal team advising the Arab League in the 2004 Wall case beforethe International Court of Justice. Even at an advanced stage of her illness, she stillmanaged to find the strength to maintain her advocacy for Palestine. Gowlland-Debbasis survived by her husband Neil, by herdaughter Alix Naila, her son Geoffrey, andthree grandchildren.

george Rebeiz (BA ’49, Md ’53)

vera gowlland-debbas (BA ’62)

1992-97. He was also president of theLebanese Society of Neurology, NeurologicalSurgery, and Psychiatry. Nassar is survived byhis wife Sumaya Kurani (BA ’54), his brotherMounir (BEN ’54), his sister Mona Yannieh(BA ’57), three children Alice (BA ’87),

Ibrahim, and Suzy (MA ’00), and sixgrandchildren.

More Online: A special tribute to Dr. Nassar

from his former student Robert Moundjian

(BS ’80, MD ’84)

62 63

nouhad nassif Adi (BA ’71, MA ’76) was bornin Ras Beirut in 1950 and passed away inScottsdale, Arizona on October 28, 2015. Shewas the first of five sisters to graduate fromAUB, where she met George Adi (BEN ’72,MEN ’77) in the Camping and Hiking Club inthe early 1970s. They were married in the AUB Chapel in 1976 and embarked on anadventurous life, living in Nigeria and AbuDhabi before they moved to the United States

in the early 1990s. In the years following,they lived in Upstate New York, NorthernVirginia, and Tucson, Arizona. Originallydiagnosed with cancer in 2005, Nouhadfought the disease with great courage andspirit. She is survived by her husband George,her sisters Nawal, Nada, Georgette andNabila, her daughter Samar and her sonSalim. nouhad nassif Adi

(BA ’71, MA ’76)

Frederic Pratt Herter passed away in NewYork City on November 7, 2015, at the age of 94. He joined the American University of Beirut as a trustee in 1977, and served as chairman of the board from 1985-87, and as university president from 1987 to 1993. Ahighly respected surgeon and teacher, Herterreceived his undergraduate degree fromHarvard College and his MD from HarvardMedical School. He did post-graduate trainingin surgery at Presbyterian Hospital. Apioneering surgeon and role model togenerations of medical students, residents,and faculty members, Herter served as theAuchincloss Professor of Surgery at ColumbiaUniversity, acting chairman of Department of Surgery at the College of Physicians andSurgeons of Columbia University, actingdirector of Surgery at Presbyterian Hospital,director of Surgery at Francis DelafieldHospital, a trustee of Mary Imogene Bassett

Hospital, Jackson Laboratories, and AmericanNear East Refugee Aid; a regent of Cathedralof St. John the Divine, New York; a member of the board of governors of the Middle EastInstitute, Washington; a member of the boardof advisers of the Hariri Foundation USA; and a member of the Council on ForeignRelations. Barred from travelling to Lebanonduring the most challenging years of the civilwar, Herter successfully led the Universityfrom the New York Office. The scion of adistinguished New York family, he embodiedthe best qualities of leadership:inquisitiveness, determination, sensitivity,sense of purpose, and compassion. He issurvived by his beloved wife Solange, sisterAdele Seronde, son Eric, daughters Carolineand Brooke, stepson Marc, stepdaughtersMary, Veronique, and Jacqueline, and several grandchildren.

Friends

Notices forIn Memoriammay be sent tomaingate@aub.edu.lb

Frederic Pratt Herter

In Memoriam

We Remember

Anna t. davidowicz BA ’46

nassim nabbout BA ’51, BS ’53

Ali A. Husayni BA ’53

Sami georges Khayat BA ’53

Sadi turki Said BA ’66

John E. Ashkar BEN ’69

Ali youssef Eid BA ’70

Margaret M. Bordon MA ’71

george Ilyas ziinni MA ’72

Bana S. Arnaout BS ’74, MS ’76

ghulam Faruq Abawi BS ’76

Cyril Albert El Amm BA ’02

Alecos Michealides Former Student

Issa A Khalifah Former Student

Adel Jamil nassar Former Student

zuhayr A. Moghrabi Former Student

Suheil Bushuri Former Faculty

Jackson Bird Friend

Eric Rouleau Friend

william A. darity Friend

Shawki droubi, age 41, had been amessenger in the AUBMC general supportunit since 1996. He was known for hispositive and helpful disposition and excellentservice.

Khodr Alaa deen, age 29, joined AUBMC in2014, as a registered nurse. He was a diligentand generous colleague.

The AUB community mourns the tragic loss of Shawki Droubi and Khodr Alaa Deen.

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One of the Most BeautifulUniversitiesin the World

AUB’s campus, stretching fromthe Mediterranean to the hills ofRas Beirut, is renowned for itsgreenery, Ottoman-inspired andmodernist architecture, and vistasof sea and distant mountains.Photographer Guillaume deLaubier celebrated these featuresin his book “The Most Beautiful

Universities in the World,” inwhich AUB was included alongwith Princeton University, theUniversity of Oxford, andStanford University. De Laubiercaptures the palms and pinesstanding out against thebackdrop of majestic buildings,while Jean Serroy narrates thecampus’s history.

Return Address

American University of Beirut3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza8th FloorNew York, NY 10017-2303

Return Address

American University of Beirut3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza8th FloorNew York, NY 10017-2303

Collect all three 150th editionsfor a full map of Beirut featuringstreets named after figures fromAUB’s history.

Map Section 1/3