Fall 2010 V ol. IX, No . 1 - American University of Beirut

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MainGateA m e r i c a n U n i v e r s i t y o f B e i r u t Q u a r t e r l y M a g a z i n eDepartments:Letters 2Inside the GateViews from Campus Reports from the field: campus botanical gardens, cancer fighting plants, 4bettering Beirut air, understanding addiction, 4,000 year-old house cleaning;open book: what we’re reading on campus; 1,429 pages, 1,400 entries,an English-Arabic dictionary, and Professor Ramzi Baalbaki.ReviewsBeyond Bliss StreetMainGate Connections Trailblazer: Salma Jayyusi (BA ’56) 42Alumni Profile Brand Name: Tarek Atrissi (BA ’00) on branding Qatar and innovating 44contemporary Arabic design and typography.Legends and Legacies Boutros Bustani, father of the Arabic renaissance 47Reflections Engineering Change: Speaking with Ibrahim Hajj (BE ’64) 48Alumni Happenings Reunion 2010; AUB relaunches the ring ceremony; 52WAAAUB 2010 election resultsClass Notes 59In Memoriam 67MainGate is published quarterly inBeirut by the American Universityof Beirut for distribution to alumni,former faculty, friends, andsupporters worldwide.EditorAda H. PorterDirector of CommunicationsResponsible DirectorNabil DajaniArt Direction and DesignOffice of CommunicationsNajib AttiehZeina TawilTomoko FurukawaProductionOffice of CommunicationsRanda ZaiterPhotographyAUB Jafet Library ArchivesAhmad El ItaniMazen JannounHasan NisrNishan SimonianContributing WritersMaureen AliAnn Kerr-AdamsBetty AndersonJean-Marie CookSusanne LaneSierra MillmanBarbara RosicaAmerican University of BeirutOffice of CommunicationsPO Box 11–0236Riad El Solh 1107 2020Beirut, LebanonTel: 961-1-353228Fax: 961-1-363234New York Office3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza8th FloorNew York, NY 10017–2303Tel: 212-583-7600Fax: 212-583-7651maingate@aub.edu.lbwww.aub.edu.lbCoverTypography exercise with the wordMainGate by AUB students.PrintingLane Press

Written Word24Off the WallPolitical, personal, artistic andpatriotic—Beirut’s graffiti has a newmessage.MainGate Fall 201034Writ LargeA successful new literaryfestival at AUB and whatinspires and drives alumniauthors around the world.30The SPC ManDo you have what it takesto be an SPC man? The100 year-old question.40ComposingThoughtsWriting makes acomeback on campus.AdaptationAs part of the graphic design curriculum at AUB two typography coursesare offered as core courses in the second year of study. The courseobjective is to learn typography as form and content, the anatomy of letterformsand how it is used. Typography constitutes a strong base to anygraphic design program. At the end of the first semester, students learnthe basic components of type and become more comfortable experimenting.At this point, we give an exercise called “adaptation”. Students areasked to choose a Latin font and create a word in Arabic, studying theforms of this given [Latin] font and finding the appropriate shapes to createthe Arabic letters. This method is not new, as it is often used in logoadaptations; a company that has a logo created in a Latin font would usethis adaptation exercise to translate it into Arabic. This method is alsoused to create a logo or image, which gives a certain flair to the logo; thisis particularly true in TV credits in Lebanon and the Middle East.We asked the students to write MainGate in Arabic using a Latin font, andthe results are on the cover of this issue.

f r o m t h e p r e s i d e n tDear Alumni and Friends,One of the most valuable pieces of advice I received after becoming president of AUB in 2008 was to listen to our alumniand friends of the University. It’s something I have been doing a lot of—most recently at alumni events in Atlanta, Georgiaand Boston, Massachusetts, Abu Dhabi, UAE and Kuwait; at Reunion last July; and of course through my conversationswith the twenty alumni who serve on the University’s Board of Trustees. I have benefited enormously from these conversationsand am deeply grateful that so many of you care enough about this institution to share with me not only your hopesand dreams, but your concerns as well.AUB’s announcement of a new tuition policy in May 2010 prompted a swift reaction from some of our students oncampus and from alumni as well. (See article on page 22.) Some of you wrote to tell me that you were worried that youwould no longer be able to afford to send yourchild to AUB, others that you were concernedabout the fairness and transparency of thefinancial aid process. We listened to you andmade some changes to the policy that will gointo effect in fall 2011—changes that you canread more about in this issue of the magazineand on-line and on the AUB website.Because I know that alumni are always concernedabout the quality of the University and thataccreditation is one indicator of AUB’s standing,I’d like to congratulate the Faculty of Engineeringand Architecture on its recent accreditation bythe Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC)of ABET, Inc. ABET, Inc. is one of the mostrespected accrediting agencies in the UnitedStates, and AUB is the first university in Lebanonto receive ABET accreditation. (Read more inMainGate on-line and on page 15.)In my very first MainGate letter to you in summer 2008, I wrote that I was “acutely aware and deeply appreciativeof the important role that AUB alumni play at the University, and…know of no other alumni group that feel as stronglyabout their alma mater.” I also noted that one of my highest priorities as president was “to meet AUB alumni, to hear theirconcerns, and to encourage them to become involved with their University at this critical moment in its history.” Thesewords are as true today as they were then. Encouraging greater alumni involvement in the affairs of AUB remains one ofmy highest priorities. Our alumni are our ambassadors to the world, our greatest cheerleaders, and our trusted advisors.AUB is proud of its activists, artists, authors, engineers and doctors, business leaders, mothers and fathers, and sonsand daughters.I look forward to continuing to work with you to strengthen the ties that weave this family together in the pages ofthis magazine, at events on campus, through the website, and by working with WAAAUB to build a strong worldwidealumni network.Peter DormanPresident2 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

f r o m / t o t h e e d i t o rHow do we define the written word? In this issue of the magazine, it encompasses language, literature, design, typography,a touch of graffiti, with a couple of blogs thrown in. You’ll also find some reading recommendations along the way(look throughout Views from Campus). My own summer reads included Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Pig Earth by JohnBerger, Water by Steven Solomon and several evenings a week, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.Finally, a written word of thanks to W. Stephen Jeffrey who is retiring after nine years at AUB. He has been a fantasticadvocate, visionaire, strategist, and source of creative ideas for this magazine.Ada H. PorterEditor, MainGateaingate@aub.edu.lb write us maingate@aub.edu.lb write us maingate@aSummer 2010 Vol. VIII, No. 4I just opened a recent e-mail thatsaid, “MainGate Summer 2010 is now‏.«on-line What a nice surprise! I haveread about 25 pages on-line andloved it. It's a thrill to flip, zoom inand out, go back and forward. Theapplication being used is impressive.Thank you for making this easier onpeople like me who spend 10 hoursa day looking at a computer and canuse a break to see what is going on intheir beloved alma mater!Wafaa Safaoui (BEN ’88)Laguna Hills, CaliforniaI’ve good news to share that pertainsto the “collections” issue! Recently,New York University agreed toaccept my collection of Arab imagesin American popular culture. The collectionwould be utilized by teachersand scholars world-wide, and wouldfree-up two large rooms in our home.We’ll be donating more than 3,000television shows and motion pictureswith Arab characters dating from thelate 1800s; motion picture postersand stills; toys and games; comicbooks, editorial cartoons, and bookson stereotypes of other racial andethnic groups; and original screenplayswith comments on films such as“Three Kings” and “Syriana” where Iserved as consultant.Jack Shaheen (Former faculty andFulbright Scholar, 1974-75)Hilton Head, South CarolinaImagine my surprise at seeing thisphoto! I organized the group and amthe one with the fez to the left of thedrummer. To the right of the drummeris Isa Sihweil, next to me holdingthe goal sign is Raif Boulos, andto his left is Mohamed Nail (nowdeceased). On the far left is HassanSmadi. I recognize most of the otherfaces too but unfortunately cannotremember the names!Yusef Shalabi (BE ’63)Dubai, UAEI enjoyed every page of the summermagazine, especially those dedicatedto various museum collections andother historical and natural historydocuments. Keep up the good work,it is much appreciated.Dr. Paul Abou Nader (BS ’84)Montreal, CanadaSpring 2010 Vol. VIII, No. 3,Class Notes page 61You mentioned that Ali Akilah (MD’39) was the first Jordanian graduateof AUB's medical school. In fact,Nicola Bulos el-Masri (PhM ’17, MD’23) of Madaba, Jordan is one of theearliest medical pioneers in Jordan,and his wife Liza Farah (Nursing ’26)was also an early nursing pioneerin Jordan. Their four children are allgraduates of AUB.Nadeem Masri (BS ’55)Damascus, SyriaErrataMidwest to Middle East, page 51,Summer 2010 Vol. VIII, No. 4Abby Bliss met Emily Dickinson whilethey were classmates at AmherstAcademy, not Amherst College.Time Flies, page65, Summer2010 Vol. VIII,No. 4Dr. Bessos,whose pictureappeared onpage 60 “enjoying a panoramic view,” isnot in the group of hikers on page 65.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate |MainGate Fall 2010 3

ViewfinderFast fieldwork: A team of AUBstudents and professors excavatinga 5,000 year-old Bronze Age citydiscovered three tombs, one of themjust 48 hours before the site was dueto shut down for the year. (See articlepage 10.)More On-line4 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

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Most popularuniversity clubsin 20101- Beirut Heritage Club2- Camping and Hiking Club3- Civic Welfare League Club4- Drama Club5- Environment Club6- Human Rights and Peace7- IMUN Club8- Latino Dance Club9- Red Cross Club10- Unesco ClubSeen and HeardExcerpts from theCommencementAddress Professor WalidKhalidi, June 2010I do not dwell on the past to avoid thefuture, but to remind you that the Arrowof Time does indeed start in the past,before passing through the present onits flight into the future.Some 145 years ago the Americanschooner Sultana anchored in Beirutharbor. On board was a remarkablegroup of men. They brought with themthe quintessential best in the values oftheir country: probity of purpose, commitmentto service, uprightness anddecency in dealings, and inexhaustibleenergy and optimism.The hillside behind you, recently recrownedwith College Hall, was then abarren, uninhabited, windswept wilderness.But on it there arose, as if at aProfessor Walid Khalidimagician's command, the first modemliberal university in the Arab world fromwhich you are privileged to graduatetoday.World War I left AUB intact. This isbecause the US had not declared waron the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, it hadtried to detach it from Germany. I leaveit to you to reflect on where we wouldall be, today, if the US had succeededin this endeavor…AUB’s future role cannot replicatethe past. Towers that butt the skies canbe built overnight—but not universities,not even with Ivy League support.Nowhere in the Arab world is theresuch indigenous talent as here. Likevintage wine, this talent has matured inits terraced terrain. In the convivencia ofits discourse, this campus is second tonone in the Arab world.Lebanon is the natural habitat ofAUB. There is reason for this: Lebanonis not just another Arab country. Itsuniqueness derives from its diversity,but its diversity is unlike that of any otherArab country.Time is the crucial commodity here…Robust, sustained, strong-willed presidentialintervention in the peace processis not an act of American charity towardsthe Arabs or Islam. It is in the supremenational interest of the US itself and agiant contribution to global concord.Clearly the incumbent of the OvalOffice does not lack the best of intentions,but does he have the spaceamidst his other momentous priorities?And does he have the leverage overa Congress that is plus-royaliste-quele-roi?As I survey the luminous sea of youthbefore me, and try to compute thecenturies of promise and fulfillment thatit contains, I am filled with hope. Hopethat you will not abandon your homeland,this Mashriq heartland that sodesperately needs you. Hope that youwill give your children and grandchildrenevery reason to be proud of you. Andremember: Your foremost moral dutyis to the disinherited and less privilegedamong our people.May the bell of College Hall continueto ring and may its peals resonate withthe clarity of Bliss, King and Crane onPennsylvania Avenue and on Capitol Hillas well. God bless Lebanon, and goodluck to each and every one of you.More On-line6 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Summer Program 2010Twenty-eight participants from the US, Canada, Britain, Holland, Germany,France, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico came “back” to Beirut last summer for thethree-week Summer Program for AUB Alumni Children (SPAAC). The programhelps students reconnect with their Lebanese heritage, get to know AUB, takeArabic, pursue creative electives and tour Lebanon.More On-linewww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 7

From the FacultiesFAFSField WorkThis summer Professor Salma Talhoukput the finishing touches on an Ibsarresearch project into a new approachto flora conservation. Working in cooperationwith the Lebanese Departmentof Antiquities, AUB’s Department ofHistory and Archaeology, and colleaguesand students from theDepartment of Landscape Design andEcosystem Management, Talhouk isexploring ways to use the peripheriesof protected archaeological sitesfor small native plant gardens. Suchsites are widely distributed throughoutLebanon, and being protected and leftlargely undisturbed, they lend themselvesto flora conservation includingannuals, and herbaceous perennials,some woody plants and other naturallyoccurring native species. Consultingthe literature, Talhouk expects to createlocalized, mini-botanical gardenswhich will provide a second layer ofinterest for those visiting archaeologicalsites, as well as preserving the localflora. Her proposition is, in essence, ahybrid of many different approachesto conservation with an emphasis onlow cost and low maintenance andmaximization of limited public spaces.Similarly, she is investigating thefeasibility of turning university campusesinto semi-botanical gardens in theway that AUB has been planted andclassified. “Land care is expensive andnot a high priority,” Talhouk explains,“this is one way we can achieve landmanagement with minimum output.With the right collections, managementstrategy and educational and outreachprograms, university campuses canalso serve as mini botanical gardenswith minimum effort.” Supported byAUB’s University Research Board,Talhouk presented her paper at theWorld Congress for Middle EasternStudies, Barcelona in July.campus gardenRonnie Chatah (formerstudent) on foundingWalk Beirut:“I ran into severalforeign backpackerslost in Beirut, not surewhere certain iconslike the old Holiday Innand Martyr's Squarewere located. Turnsout they had walkedright by them withoutactually knowingwhere they were. Thetouristy spots likeRaouche rocks andthe National Museumcan be found withouthassle, but this is avery simple and limitedportion of Beirut'spast. I came up withan itinerary I thoughtwas critical in graspingBeirut's story."—The Wall Street Journal8 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

City ProduceDuring the summer, Professor ShadiHamadeh was busy coordinating theFAFS Environment and SustainableDevelopment Unit’s (ESDU) initiativeto implement an innovative regionalproject aimed at improving the livelihoodsof urban farmers in Amman,Jordan and Sana’a, Yemen. Knownas “From Seed to Table” (FStT) the twoyearproject, funded by the ResourceCenters on Urban Agriculture and FoodSecurity (RUAF), seeks to facilitatethe development of sustainable urbanfarming systems in both countries byfollowing a value chain approach—frompre-production to marketing. The firstphase comprised a comprehensiveanalysis of the urban farming systemsin both countries with two ESDU membersworking with local teams to evaluatepotential production and carry outmarket analysis.This has led tothe selection ofthe most promisingoptions ineach country:green onionsin Amman,graded, packed,and labeled;and free-rangeeggs in Sana’aalso packed andlabeled. Theseproducts willbecome the coreof FStT activities. In the second phase,both cities have finished their businessplans as well as their credit and financestudies. They are currently in the implementationphase, i.e. planting greenonions and marketing them in Amman,and raising chickens in enhancedbarns in Sana’a, to collect and marketfree-range eggs. Working in closecooperation with FStT local teams, theurban producers will further developtheir business and credit mechanisms,as well as the Urban Producers FieldSchools where they learn new techniquesand organisational practices inboth production and marketing.FASNatural Remedies"I was asked to lead theproject that comparesthe extractedamount of an antiinflammatoryandanti-cancer moleculeSalograviolideA from the wildindigenous plant tothe cultivated plant."During her sophomore summer GracieEl Ayle worked under Professor NajatSaliba’s supervision in the Atmosphericand Analytical Laboratory (AAL) to“explore a taste of research in chemistry.”Her project on the extractionand identification of bioactive moleculesfrom endemic medicinal plants comesunder the auspices of Ibsar (NatureConservationCenter forSustainableFutures). ElAyle writes:“Soon afterbeing trainedon extraction,separation,and purificationtechniques, Iwas asked tolead the projectthat comparesthe extractedamount ofan anti-inflammatory and anti-cancermolecule Salograviolide A, from thewild indigenous Centaurea Aintensisplant (known as “Kantarioun”) to thecultivated [plant]. This project is verychallenging from different aspects sinceit requires the optimization of the solventDiscovering the different anti-inflammatory andanti-cancer properties in the wild and cultivatedKantarioun plant may offer farmers profitablealternative crops.extraction procedure, the purification ofthe different extracts, and the isolation,identification, and quantification of themolecule and its isomers. I am particularlyinterested in this project becauseisolating and quantifying SalograviolideA in the cultivated plant would havedirect implications in terms of offeringto farmers alternative crops that couldhave industrial applications in harvestinga potentially important medicinalmolecule. As such, feeding back into thecommunity is very rewarding and motivating.I am grateful for the opportunityto work in AAL during my undergraduatewww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 9

OPEN BOOK OPEN BOOKstudies because I acquired researchskills and critical thinking, and mostlybecause I got to work with experiencedpeople of various disciplines who helpedme throughout.”Air Quality ControlPostgraduate student Rawad Massoudjoined the AUB Air Quality ResearchUnit after obtaining his MS in toxicologyand environmental healthin the Netherlands.When not in the lab, El Ayle was reading Eat, Pray, Love, byElizabeth Gilbert.Professor Najat Saliba as part ofa joint multi-disciplinary team ofscientists from AUB and UniversitéSaint Joseph (USJ), supported bythe Lebanese National Council forScientific Research (CNRS).team’s brief is to measure the levelsof certain ambient pollutants (particulatematter—PM) in the air overBeirut, along with their distribution andsource. Massoud writes: “Dependingon their size, these PM are linked toa series of significant pulmonary andcardio vascular problems, as well asplant and building damage. Differenthealth organizations, particularly theWorld Health Organization, have putstandards for their levels.year in the field we have analyzedlevels that are much higher than theadvised ones, and there is probabledifference between the three siteswe are working on, however moreinvestigation is needed. The importanceof this research and the dailyinteraction between junior and highlyskilled experienced scientists in thelaboratory, as well as the combinationof field and laboratory work, providesa lot of job satisfaction.”Creating… a PrecedentHe works with As a continuation of her pioneeringwork in creative writing at AUB, thissummer Assistant Professor RoseanneKhalaf introduced a creative writingworkshop in cooperation with the prestigiousInternational Writing Program atThe Iowa University and jointly supported byAUB and the English Speaking Union(ESU), Lebanon branch. Between June21-July 2, some 30 students from AUBand across Lebanon (previously vettedand interviewed by Khalaf), attendedsessions in two genres: fiction andpoetry, delivered by renowned Americanwriters novelist Claire Massud and poetTom Sleigh. The idea of the programwas conceived when Khalaf metChristopher Merrill, director of the IowaAfter a program at a writers’ conference inMorocco. Merrill subsequently visitedBeirut in March 2010 and with supportfrom AUB Provost Ahmad DallalMassoud is switching between reading La preuve par le miel,by Salwa al Neimi, and Dust: a history of the small and theinvisible, by Joseph A. Amato.and Youmna Asseily, president of ESULebanon, Khalaf’s dream became areality. Massud and Sleigh were bothimpressed by the level of competencyexhibited by the student writers. Theyalso appreciated their literary knowledge,which they considered to beas good as, if not superior to, that oftheir peers in the United States. Khalafhopes that the workshop will be thefirst of many, at AUB and later in otheruniversities in Lebanon.Digging into the PastThis summer, four graduate archaeologystudents joined Associate ProfessorHermann Genz and an internationalexcavation team exploring a smallBronze Age city contemporaneous withByblos at Kfarabida, two kilometerssouth of Batroun. Fortuitously discoveredin 2004 by an AUB graduatestudent who was riding by it on hismotorcycle, the site has been excavatedeach summer for the last fouryears. It has yielded remarkable resultsin terms of its architectural preservationand evidence of domestic life: foodpreparation, storage and consumption,household utensils, and pottery tradeitems. “We are lucky,” explains Genz,“the site was deserted at the beginningof the second millennium BC andnever resettled.” Excavation revealedseveral almost complete rooms filledwith the detritus of domestic life, datingto the Early Bronze Age III (earlythird millennium BC). “It looked likethey left in a hurry,” Genz says, “therewere complete vessels left intact, theremains of sheep, stone jewelry, andbone tools.” In a later phase, datingto the Early Bronze Age III (middle ofthe third millennium BC), among otherthings, an impressive two story “public”10 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Left: a flotation machine retrieves botanical remains from the archaeological layers.Top center: a ceramic bowl from a Middle Bronze Age tomb likely contained food offerings for the deceased.Top right: a stylized ram's head application on a shard of an Early Bronze Age storage jar.Bottom right: Marshall Woodworth exposing the skeleton in a Middle Bronze Age tomb.dwelling was partly uncovered. The lastphase of activity is represented by threetombs with human remains and funeraryitems from the Middle Bronze Age(early second millennium BC)—one ofthem discovered just 48 hours beforethe excavation was due to close for theyear. MS student Marshall Woodworthwas working in a race against theclock to excavate the skeleton andfunerary vessels while conservator MayHaider (BA ’04), on loan from Italy,waited patiently to retrieve the potterybowls. Apart from the excitingarchaeological discoveries, the site hasproven fertile ground for inter-facultyresearch including a project for landscapedesign students; an area ofstudy for Ibsar botanists; cooperationwith the Chemistry Department in analyzingfood and other residues in thewww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 11

pottery vessels and with the GeologyDepartment using geo-magnetics andgeo-electrics to map the site withoutexcavation. Interestingly the botanicalanalysis reveals evidence of deforestationeven in such ancient times.FMHelp in SightFM post-graduate student KhaledMoussawi writes from the MedicalUniversity of South Carolina where heis conducting cutting edge researchinto the mechanisms of addiction:“My research focuses on the neurobiologyof cocaine addiction, characterizedby vulnerability to relapseand compulsive drug seeking. EveryOPEN BOOKtime an addict has to make a choicebetween seeking the drug or engagingin some other behavioral activity,he/she will choose to seek the drugdespite their insights into the adverseconsequences. In our research, weuse a rat animal model for cocaineaddiction where rats are trained toself-administer cocaine in operantchambers.A few weeks after the lastcocaine exposure, we compare thebrains of cocaine rats to controls(non-cocaine rats) using differentapproaches including microdialysis,electrophysiology, molecular biology,and imaging techniques. We alsotest potential therapeutic drugs usingbehavioral pharmacology to measureSouth Carolina transplants: six AUB students are working on their MD/PhDs at the Medical Universityof South Carolina (left to right): Rany Abdallah, Ahmad Mashmoushi, Saeed Ojeimi, Adnan El Ayyoubi,Khaled Moussawi, and Youssef ZeidanFor “light” relief Moussawi will be reading: Hot, Flat, andCrowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution by Thomas L.Friedman and The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence forEvolution by Richard Dawkins.their impact on ameliorating cocainerelated behaviors.Our research team has identifiedkey changes in the brain responsiblefor compulsive drug seeking and vulnerabilityto relapse. We found thatrepeated cocaine exposure disruptsthe balance of excitatory activity inspecific brain circuits involved normallyin cognitive control, reward processing,and regulation of goal-directedbehaviors. Crucially, we discoveredthat reversing cocaine-inducedchanges in these circuits providesenduring protection against relapseto cocaine seeking in the rat animalmodel, as well as in human addicts.OPEN BOOKOur work provides a new therapeuticstrategy to treat cocaine addiction.Further work is ongoing to examinethe effectiveness of this approach intreating addiction to other substanceslike heroin and amphetamine, as wellas behavioral addictions like pathologicalgambling.”In Search of the MissingLinkAlso in South Carolina, FM graduateAdnan Al-Ayoubi was working furiouslythrough the summer writinghis thesis which has exciting implicationsfor future therapies. Theimportance of Al-Ayoubi’s researchinto cell signal transduction lies inits ability to recognize new targetsfor pharmacological and geneticintervention, and to provide promisingpaths for cancer therapies.It concentrates on identifying theAside from working on his dissertation, Al-Ayoubi was hopingto get around to reading his new history book about the birthof America: The Fourth Part of the World, by Toby Lester.12 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

link between signaling pathways andregulation of the alternative expressionof messenger RNA (mRNA), a moleculeof RNA encoding a chemical "blueprint"for a protein product, which allows fortargeted manipulation of cellular proteincontent for therapeutic purposes.OPEN BOOKFadi El-Jardali is reading: Small World by David Lodge.For Mary McEwen it is: “historical fiction by Pearl Buck, nonfictionby Malcom Gladwell, and, just for fun, Harry Potter in French (withLe Petit Robert close at hand)."Saned Raouf hopes to finish Orhan Pamuk's Snow and TheMahabharata.Outside track...Twenty percent of incomingFM students in 2010-11 arenon-Lebanese. They include...In 2006-07, just1 percent of newFM students camefrom outside AUB.In 2010-11, 27percent are enteringFM from outsidethe University(17 from outsideLebanon, four fromwithin Lebanon.)This is critical given the fact that manyhealth policies are developed withoutany supporting evidence attesting totheir need. McEwen was working onthe project “Exploring the Problemof Scarcity of Nurses in UnderservedAreas in the Middle East: Factors,Reasons and Incentives for Recruitmentand Retention.” Her work focuseson exploring the interface betweeninternational mobility of the nursingworkforce in Lebanon and Jordan andthe challenges of adequate staffing toaddress the population health needs inunderserved areas, including retentionstrategies for the health workforce inthose areas. This work is funded by theAlliance for Health Policy and SystemsResearch.FEAFHSWorking HolidayMary McEwen and Saned Raouf, fromthe Health Policy and Global HealthProgram at the Yale School of PublicHealth, spent a hardworking summerin Lebanon completing their master’sof public health requirements. Theirresearch into a better understanding ofhealth policy mechanisms was supervisedby Professor Fadi El-Jardali fromthe Department of Health Managementand Policy (HMPD). Raouf’s’s study ispart of a three-year research programentitled “Towards Evidence InformedHealth Policies in the MENA Region”funded by the Global Health ResearchInitiative. His component, “NationalCase Studies on Health Policy Makingin the Middle East,” is jointly fundedby the Issam Fares Institute for PublicPolicy and International Affairs. Raouf’swork will help fill the knowledge gap onhow health policies are formulated inselected countries in the Middle East.The Air We BreatheRawad Saleh, a doctoral student atDuke University, spent his summerworking with Professor Alan Shihadehmeasuring airborne particles in searchof answers to a controversial questionfacing the global climate and regionalair quality modeling community: how toachieve accurate air quality measurements.He writes:"Particles in the air, referred to asambient/atmospheric aerosols, posesignificant health hazards, includingrespiratory and cardiopulmonarywww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 13

Aerosol labdiseases, and cancer. They alsoimpact the earth’s climate by absorbingor scattering light. Scientists rely onair quality models to predict how theseparticles evolve, and thus assess theirimpact on the environment; for thesemodels to work, we have to measurethe thermodynamic properties of thecompounds comprising the aerosolparticles (how these compounds partitionbetween the particle and gasphase as ambient temperature, humidity,and gas concentrations). We assessthese properties through direct ambientmeasurements of the atmosphericaerosols and laboratory experiments.Unfortunately, due to the limitationsof the measuring techniques, so farscientists have been forced to assume“ideal kinetics” when taking measurements,which compromises the validityof the thermodynamic properties we’relooking to measure. In my current workwith the Department of EnvironmentalEngineering at Duke University andthe Aerosol Research Lab at AUB,we are developing a new techniqueOPEN BOOKOPEN BOOKthat allows us, for the first time, tomeasure the kinetic properties of theaerosols in order to be able to relax the“ideal kinetics”assumption andobtain betterestimates of thethermodynamicproperties.Also workingwith ProfessorShihadeh (andChemistryProfessor NajatSaliba), FEA studentMarc Helou’stask focused on aproblem very close to Lebanese hearts:Effect of Diesel Electrical Generatorson Household Exposure to AirborneCarcinogens. Marc writes:In many developing countries wherethe capacity for power generation is limited,governments install rotating powershortage systems, cutting suppliesbetween two and 16 hours a day. Theaim is to reduce pollution and electricityproduction costs, but is that what isactually happening? In Lebanon, forexample, electricity shortages haveforced people to tap into local powerproduction facilities in the form of buildinggenerators or by buying into a sharedWhen not hard at work in the lab, Saleh was glad to be visitingfamily and friends in Lebanon and in between he read Fabricof the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality byBrian Green and The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.In many countriesgovernmentsinstall rotatingpower shortagesystems. The aim isto reduce pollutionand electricityproduction costs,but is that what isactually happening?supply from nearby diesel-poweredelectric generators. In this potent combinationof weak environmental regulationsand denselypacked high-risebuildings webelieve there is aserious possibilityof high levels ofhuman exposureto airborne carcinogensin thevicinity of thegenerators.To determinewhether this is thecase, we monitorhazardous diesel combustion emissionsknown as particle-bound polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) andultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) onbalconies of apartments located in thevicinity of one or more diesel-poweredWhen not rushing around Beirut installing and reading monitors,Marc was hoping to read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.electricity generators. At every site werecord electricity shortage times andvariations in PAH and UFPM levels overa 10-day period. By using a real timemonitoring approach, we can establisha relationship between pollutant levelsand the time of day when the dieselgenerator was operating.Our preliminary data indicates thatdepending on the weather conditionsand location, households may experiencean elevated daily exposure ofup to seven times the normal urbanbackground level due to the operationof a nearby generator.14 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

OSBBumper CropExecutive MBA (EMBA) professorsworked harder than usual last summerteaching a bumper crop of newstudents. Thanks to the growingreputation of the program and judiciousmarketing on the part of EMBA DirectorRiad Dimechkie, some 28 executives (insectors including finance, healthcare,construction and IT/telecom) from sixcountries in the MENA region havesigned up for the 22-month course.After systematically lobbying big companiesand conducting public informationsessions in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,EMBA Director Riad DimechkieJordan and Syria, Dimechkie is confidentthat the OSB EMBA program hasa high enough profile to face down thenew competition from the Abu-Dhabibased London Business School andthe upcoming French INSEAD. “Ourprogram and case studies focus on theMENA region,” he explains, “And thefeedback we get from our students inresponse has endorsed our reputationtremendously.”Public LessonOSB student Nael Halwani felta certain sense of forebodingwhen he embarked onhis summer internship, butreality turned out to be farmore positive than theory.Halwani writes: “Day one ofmy internship at the Ministryof Economy, I did not knowwhat to expect. After all, I wasgoing to the ‘notorious publicsector’. After seven weeks I can saythat working in the public sector is notthat bad after all. In fact this summer Ihave had experience with the peoplewho create opportunities for the privatesector by launching Kafalat [commercialassistance for small and mediumEMBA incomingclass: 50 percentare referred byformer students;70 percent resideoutside Lebanon andcommute to AUB15 times a year.enterprises] and Business DevelopmentCenters such as Berytech [incubator/accelerator for new businesses]. I havealso worked in the quality unit wherethe mission is to reach the highestquality norms in Lebanon, andencourage systematic management. Ican summarize my experience at theMinistry of Economy by saying that Ihave learned to look at a whole newperspective: the macro level.”AUB First in Lebanonto Receive ABET, Inc.AccreditationAUB’s civil engineering, computerand communications engineering,electrical and computer engineering,and mechanical engineering degreeprograms have received accreditationfrom ABET, Inc. (formerly the“Accreditation Board for Engineeringand Technology”) one of the mostrespected accreditation organizationsin the United States. AUB is the firstuniversity in Lebanon to receive ABETaccreditation for degree programs.“[Accreditation] forces departments toimprove their programs continuously…so that they remain up-to-date andmeet international standards,” said FEADean Ibrahim Hajj. It will also openmore doors for AUB graduates and helpthe University attract more internationalstudents to its programs, he added.More On-linewww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 15

Student NewsThis year’s Penrose winners alreadyhave a clear idea of where they aregoing on their next steps towards asuccessful future.Diana Darwich“I am happy to saythat in the upcomingyear I will belaunched to Mars(not the planet, butthe chocolate company!)in Dubai where I will be workingin the R and D department.” (FAFS)Paul Ramia“I'll be continuingmy education herein AUB as a medicalstudent. I've alwaysconsidered AUB tobe home and I'mlooking forward to spending another4 years on this lovely campus… Iam glad to have the opportunity tocontinue being active in university lifeand working alongside my friendsto make these upcoming years trulymemorable.” (FAS)Georges El Nachef“For next year, I will begoing to the UnitedStates to continuemy graduate studies.I have received afully funded scholarshipfrom the University of Alabamain Huntsville for a five year master's/PhD program. I will be focusing on thestructural domain of my civil engineeringfield.” (FEA)Bashayer Madi“My hopes anddreams became biggerand due to thisaward all the doorsare wide open. In themeantime, I will continueto concentrate on my master’s inEnvironmental Health at AUB.” (FHS)Eliane IraniI've submitted myapplication and CVto AUBMC, passedthe entrance examand had the jobinterview. I'll beworking at AUBMC as a RegisteredNurse where I’ll be enhancing my skillsto better serve my community. Forthe future, I’m longing to expand mynursing education in parallel to workingfor my music/piano degree at theConservatoire National Supérieur deMusique. (HSON)Zahi Mitri“I am going to be atEmory University inAtlanta, completingmy Internal MedicineResidency. I actuallystarted the programon Thursday (July 1).” (FM)Farah Fulayhan“My short-term planis to gain experiencefor two yearsand to continue myeducation to acquirea master's degree.I am still applying, since I want towiden my opportunities and chancesof getting the best offer available (inLebanon)." (OSB)BCG AwardNajla Khatib, winner of the prestigiousBCG Promising LeaderAward, created last year by AUBand the Boston Consulting Group(BCG), says, “I was extremelyproud, happy and a little surprisedwhen I found out I had won. I wasnot expecting to have distinguishedmyself from the other short listedapplicants whose backgrounds arevery impressive!” She describes thesecond phase of the award application—aninterview which included abusiness study case—as “the mostchallenging part for me as I come16 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

from a strict scientific background.”Najla is taking the award and her$11,000 prize in her stride, “I stillhave a year to complete towardsmy master’s in public health afterwhich I have an interview with BCG!Otherwise I still have not refinedmy options which include furthereducation (PhD? MBA?) and otherpotential professional projects.”First PhD in Electrical andComputer Engineeringprogram’s reputation, while constitutinga sort of bridgehead for thePhD graduates in the coming yearsto find a place in the research andteaching community.”Two years before the PhD wasinitiated Yaacoub had been forcedfor personal reasons to turn downa scholarship to the TechnicalUniversity of Munich (TUM) andbegin a non academic career. Theopening of the program at AUBprovided him with the opportunityNew On-linewww.youtube.com/AUBatLebanonFlips for GreenThisdocumentary ofingenious flipbook animationsprepared byLina Ghaibeh’smotiongraphics course was displayed during theinternational biodiversity day at AUB.OpportunitiesAmidst CrisesFilippo Grandi,commissionergeneralof theUnited NationsRelief andWorks Agency(UNRWA) for Palestine refugees presents alecture hosted by IFI entitled "OpportunitiesAmidst Crises: UNRWA and Palestinerefugees in today's Middle East".Elias Yaacoub receiving his PhD degreeElias Yaacoub has the distinctionof becoming the first ever PhD inElectrical and Computer Engineeringin AUB’s history. Speaking toMainGate about setting such aprecedent Yaacoub said, “It feelsgreat. Obtaining a PhD degree froma newly launched PhD program is avery challenging task. Being the firstto graduate from such a programimplies that I have to significantlycontribute towards building thehe longed for. “The high standardof courses offered at the ECEDepartment and the availability ofwell-equipped laboratories make itpossible to conduct quality research[at] a level that can be comparedto top institutions worldwide,” hesays. With 32 published articles inrefereed journals and conferenceproceedings, and another eightunder review, Yaacoub has much toshow for his hard work.Blogged AboutLand and PeopleA source on food, farming and rural society,by FAFS Professor Rami Zurayk.http://landandpeople.blogspot.com/www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 17

After considering several prestigiousoptions, he has accepted aposition to work as a research scientistat the Qatar University WirelessInnovations Center (QUWIC).Two new engineering awards, bothmade possible by Nahed Agha Salamwere presented for the first time thissummer.Rawan Hijazi, first recipient of theYoussef M. Salam Civil EngineeringExcellence Award, told MainGate, "Ifeel lucky to be the first to receive thisnew award; no feeling is better thanbeing awarded for my hard work andthe achievement of graduating at thetop of my class. I thank God andmy family who were always therefor me, supporting me all the wayand of course I thank Mrs. Salam forfounding this award."Youssef M. Salam graduated fromAUB with a BE in Civil Engineeringin 1965 with the Penrose Award.He obtained his MS and PhD inCivil Engineering (’67, ’71) from theUniversity of California, Berkeley. Heis a founding managing partner ofTeam International, Engineering andManagement Consultants.Since 1975 the firm has providedconsultancy services to the privateand public sectors, including majorministries in Lebanon and most Arabcountries.Imad El Fay, first recipient ofthe Farouk Agha EngineeringExcellence Award told MainGate,“Receiving the award is a greathonor. As an award that distinguishesthe hard work I’ve put into thesegreat four years at AUB, the FaroukAgha Award admirably closed myfinal chapter at AUB. The day Ireceived it was unforgettable, I willalways cherish it.”Farouk Agha was an FEA studentat AUB before receiving a Fulbrightscholarship to study at the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley. After graduationhe founded a successful contractingand industrial group in the Gulf andwas a co-founder of the Center forLebanese Studies associated with St.Anthony’s College Oxford.Faculty NewsInstant RecognitionCool ideas can come at any timeand in the most unlikely place. ForFEA Professor Mariette Awad, it allbegan with a phone call in the Louvre.“Accidentally I had left the Louvreaudio system on when my Mom andmy brother Joe called to confirm myflight. You know, as a tourist you haveyour camera, your cell phone, andsome audio equipment to guide yourvisit around the museum,” she says.“Because it was not fun to resynchronizeafter the phone call, I decided to start afun research project for an on demandsystem that returns information aboutReviewsChemical Thermodynamics: With Examples for NonequilibriumProcesses (World Scientific Publishing Company, 2010)Byung Chan Eu and Mazen Al-Ghoul (BS ’92).In a recent newspaper article, you described this book as “an attempt to bridge thegap between the ideal and the natural [world] by approaching the problem in a differentmanner.” Can you tell us a little more about the “different manner” that you have adoptedin this book?Everyday phenomena are irreversible; only ideal processes are reversible. Traditionally,the study of chemical thermodynamics has focused on reversible processes because itis very difficult to study those that are irreversible. This has presented a major conceptual difficulty to studentsand researchers. We approach the topic of chemical thermodynamics in a different manner by using a newthermodynamic function called calortropy (heat evolution) that enables us to bridge the gap between reversibleand irreversible phenomena.18 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

just the specific objects that catchone’s attention.”And that is exactly what she did.Computer whiz Awad set herself thetask of inventing a system of picture recognitionthrough smart phones. A yearlater, a novel system was born thanksto the sponsorship of the LebaneseNational Center for Scientific Research(LNCSR) and two students (ECE master’sstudent Ayman El Mobacher andECE undergraduate Rudy Zeinoun).Searching the web for relevant informationabout particularlandmarksgenerally requiresa key word. “Oursystem allowsvisual searchinstead of traditionalkey wordsearch," Awadexplains. AssumeI am intrigued by the OSB building infront of me but I don’t know its name.Computer whizAwad set herself thetask of inventing asystem of picturerecognition throughsmart phones.With our system, I would simply snapits picture and send it to a remote serverto get an acknowledgement that thisis OSB and that it was inaugurated in2009 for instance.” With the widespreaduse of smart phones that integrate acamera and internet connection, noadditional equipment is needed for thisvisual search.“As a validation measure, we collectedpictures for some selected AUB anddowntown buildings from varying anglesand in different illumination conditions.Building recognitionaccuracy wasvery good and theresults were verypromising.”Though thetrigger was tourism,Awad isacutely awareof the impacther proposed concept could have onenvironmental activism and non intrusiveadvertisement. “For example, you canpromote stores and sales events withouthaving to print flyers, and what is mostimportant is that advertisement would beof the pull and not the push type that wedislike for its invading spam nature,” shesays. With time, banking and other commercialinstitutions would be interestedby picture recognition as it positions themfor on demand e-advertisements. Thisvisual search supposedly would makegoing around a city easier, more interactiveand less paper dependent.What’s the next step? As an ex-IBM employee with many patents to hername, Awad is used to the fast movingbusiness world and is now looking intoother challenges and inventions, hopingthat this novel visual search can beadopted in Beirut, which she describesas “this Mediterranean city that charmsyour spirits with its vibrant present andhistorical past.”This is a milestone event in the history of AUB’s Chemistry Department: the first time that an AUB chemistry professorhas published a chemistry textbook. How did you get involved with this project? Have you and your co-author,Professor Byung Chan Eu, collaborated on other projects?I consider Professor Eu my scientific father. He was my PhD supervisor. We have collaborated on many projectssince I joined AUB in 1998. During one of my visits to see him at McGill University where he is now a professoremeritus, I told him how I had been able to use the concept of calortropy to help the students in my thermodynamicsclasses understand real phenomena and irreversibility. He proposed that we write a book together onthermodynamics to demonstrate to students and researchers in the field the power of this new approach and atthe same time provide the community with an all-encompassing treatise.Are you using this textbook at AUB?This textbook is dedicated to students and includes a lot of material that I have developed and used in my classesover the years, so it is only natural that I will be using it as a text in my classes.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 19

Mastering ArabicProfessor Ramzi Baalbaki (BA ’73, MA among the most prestigious internationalawards in the fields of Arabic,’75), professor of Arabic since 1978,is only the second Lebanese citizen Islamic studies, medicine and science.to have been awarded the King Faisal Much of the credit goes to AUB, notInternational Prize in Arabic Language only for having nominated me butand Literature since it was established also for being my alma mater and thein 1977. He speaks with MainGate place in which I have established myabout publishing al-Mawrid al-Akbar, academic career for thirty-two yearsArabic grammar and whether or not now.Arabic will survive globalization.On publishing the 2,100 page al-On winning the King Faisal International Mawrid English-Arabic dictionary:Prize in Arabic Language and Literature My late father, Munir Baalbaki, publishedin 1967 the first edition offor 2010:Ramzi Baalbaki: This is the most prestigiousprize in the Arab world and dard English-Arabic dictionary andal-Mawrid, which became the stan-ahousehold name in the Arabic [speaking]world. He later spent 15 yearsupdating and enlarging his dictionarybefore he passed away in 1999.Having learnt much about lexicographyfrom my father and having publishedmy own Dictionary of Linguistic Terms:English-Arabic, I took it upon myselfto continue this unfinished project,which appeared in 2005. This coauthoreddictionary is appropriatelycalled al-Mawrid al-Akbar since it is themost comprehensive English-Arabicdictionary to date. In more than 2,100pages, its features include a detailedetymology of each entry, the arrangementof entries according to historyof usage, the inclusion of synonyms,antonyms and encyclopedic material.The World of Science Education: Arab States (Sense Publishers, 2009)Saouma BouJaoude (BS’71) and Zoubeida R. Dagher (MA ’83), eds.How does science education in Arab states differ from other parts of the world?Editors: While Arab states are not significantly different from other parts of the developingworld with regards to access, quality, and production of science and technology, there aredifferences with developed countries related especially to access to and quality of scienceeducation. Another way in which science education differs in the Arab world is that researcharticles are usually published in only a limited number of local or regional journals thus limitingaccess to that knowledge. We also believe that there is a particular need in the regionto make research more relevant to practice rather than conducting research only to satisfypromotion requirements at universities. Another important issue: the role of language in science teaching. ManyArab states are moving toward teaching science through the medium of a foreign language without careful studyof the advantages and disadvantages of this move.Are there any particular approaches or models to science education in the Arab world that have yielded promisingresults? What are they?One of the problems with science education research in Arab states is the lack of a common database that provides accessto research and educational reform attempts to all stakeholders. There have been recent and very visible reform efforts inseveral Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia; Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar have developed newcurriculum standards and goals leading to new professional development opportunities and in some cases to reorganizingschool structures; and in Lebanon too, there have been some changes. The biggest problem is that there has been insufficientdocumentation of the effectiveness of these reforms in achieving their goals. We hope that this book that is addressedprimarily to researchers, teachers, college students, and others interested in education will help to address this problem.20 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Above all, it is rife with examples that illustrate usage and withtechnical terms in various fields of knowledge.About the power of grammar and the word:In my published work I have tried to highlight the centralposition which Arabic grammar occupies within the gamutof the Arabic and Islamic scholarly tradition, and todemonstrate, mainly by examining early terminology andconcepts, that Arabic grammar is a genuine intellectualproduct of Arabs and Muslims, rather than the result ofborrowing from other nations. In the field of Arabicdictionaries, other than my work on theoretical aspects oflexicography, my co-authorship of al-Mawrid opened thedoor wide for me to suggest Arabic equivalents to technicalterms in various fields, with the hope that these gain currencythroughout the Arab world due to the considerable influenceal-Mawrid has on users of Arabic.Future challenges:The Department of Arabic, like other Humanities Departments atAUB, suffers from a shortage of majoring students particularly atthe undergraduate level. Many students tell us that they would like tomajor in Arabic, but choose other fields of study in the hope of betterpay after graduation. Some students, after obtaining BS degrees underpressure from their parents, pursue their “old dream” of a graduate degreein Arabic. It is unfortunate that our secondary schools deeply impress inthe minds of the students that disciplines in Humanities, to the exclusionof other disciplines, are open to underachievers. Unless suchmentality at the level of schools and society at large changes,we are likely to face a shortage in qualified students whoaspire to specialize in Humanities.Can Arabic survive globalization?Arabic is unique because of the huge literary andreligious heritage that it carries and in the sensethat its grammatical rules and even its vocabularyhave changed little over a millennium and half. Inthis sense, it is not in danger of being replaced byanother language. What is worrying, however, isthat its native speakers, mainly due to our teachingsystem, regard the use of English or French associally preferable to Arabic. The remedy largelyresides in how we teach students, very early intheir school years, to appreciate their languageand use it as a vehicle of communication to theexclusion of other languages.Read the full interview on-line.More On-linewww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 21

Dialogue PaysWhen AUB’s new tuition and financialaid policies were announced lastspring, it led to student protests and,in true AUB form, a call to strike. Whathappens next?Although the announcement cameas a surprise to some people, it wasconsistent with theUniversity’sWhy has AUB changedits tuition policy?The primary goal of the new policyis to generate additional fundsthat will be used to expand AUB’sneed-based financial aid program,strengthen academic programs,and help the University coverthe rising costs of education.I am an AUB student this year (2010-11).How will I be affected by this new policy?Current undergraduate students (those enrolledin 2010-11) will be charged tuition based oncommitmentthe old 12 credit hours tuition policy until theyto expand itsgraduate. The new tuition policy will go intofinancial aideffect in fall 2011 and will affect only thosebudget as part ofstudents entering AUB beginning in fall 2011.an effort to achievea more diverse studentbody. The initiative hadbeen discussed on severaloccasions including during focusgroups with students and facultymembers throughout the year.During the course of the week thatfollowed the May 17 announcement,there were a few student protestsand several incidents of intimidation,harassment, and vandalism on campus.President Dorman deplored theseinstances. So too did the Universityformally and informally—to explain anddiscuss their positions in what turnedout to be a successful effort to resolvetheir differences: the USFC suspendedits class boycott on May 21.So, what is this new policy—andwhat does it mean to current andprospective AUB students and theirfamilies?Student Faculty Committee (USFC).Throughout the week,administrators andstudents met frequently—bothWhat is the new tuition policy and howis it different from the old policy?Beginning with the undergraduate classentering AUB in fall 2011, the Universitywill charge a flat rate for tuition basedon 15 credit hours—instead of 12 credithours—per semester. Students who wishto enroll for more than 15 credit hours willbe able to do so at no additional charge.AUB also announced that it wouldfreeze tuition increases at 4 percent forthe next three years—through 2012-13.My husband and I are worried that we won’t be ableto afford to send our child to AUB because of thisnew policy. What is the University doing to makean AUB education affordable for all students?As a result of this new tuition policy, AUB expects todouble its financial aid budget during the next fiveyears. This increase comes on top of the growth thathas already taken place in AUB’s financial aid program:from $7 million in 2003-04 to $13.2 million in 2009-10. These additional monies will be made availableto all students who need assistance. Currently, 40percent of AUB students receive financial assistance.In addition, AUB has partnered with local banksto sponsor a student loan program that offers fixedrate 3 percent loans. These optional subsidizedstudent loans are available to all AUB students,regardless of major, and do not need to be repaiduntil ten years after the student graduates.

R+DNametag: Walid Ghandour, PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering, projected2011.Life before PhD: I had a wonderful childhood and adolescence. I used to playsoccer, basketball, and ping pong, in addition to biking. I enjoy taking careof the garden and getting involved in social activities that I missed whenI was overseas. I enjoy reading technical and non-technical articles andbooks including literature and poetry—in Arabic, French, and English. Ihave a special interest in mathematics.I earned my BE in electrical engineering from AUB in 1999 and mymaster’s of science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.I joined IBM for five years and enrolled in a computer engineeringPhD program at the University of Texas at Austin. I then decidedto return to Lebanon and complete my PhD at AUB.What matters most: My research is important because it will helpcomputer designers design new computers that can performtasks more quickly. This will enable computers to execute newand useful tasks that are too demanding to be performed by thecurrent generation of computers.Research: I am using dynamic information flow analysis (DIFA) toinvestigate a new method that would make computers faster byenabling computer processors to guess values more accurately.Existing value prediction techniques are local, which means thatthey use previous executions of the same instruction to predictfuture outputs. This technique obviously imposes certainlimitations. What I’m trying to do is use DIFA to introduceglobal value prediction techniques that would use more thanone previous instruction to predict the value of a future outputthus increasing the speed of computers.10 am Tuesday, 10 am Saturday: I’m pretty much always workingon my PhD—focused on fulfilling the requirements as quicklyas possible so that I can return to work.Most admires: I have admired several persons—especiallymy mother and dad to whom I owe everything.Why this topic interests me: I find this topic intellectuallyvery challenging and am also intrigued because of itsmany real-world applications. Computers are such anintegral part of our lives these days—and will play aneven greater role in the future. I feel that by working tospeed up computers, I am involved in a topic that is onthe cutting edge.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 23

Political, personal, artistic and patriotic—Beirut’s graffiti has a new message.1One day in April, the identical twins that form theLebanese rap and graffiti crew Ashekman called outinstructions as a group of AUB students took aim withcans of spray paint. Press the spray head with a fingerfor detail work, but use your thumb to fill in color,Mohamed and Omar Kabbani advised in a mix of Arabicand English, looking more urban cute than cool intheir matching blue jeans, Ashekman-branded white labcoats, and dark sunglasses.Leila Musfy, a professor in the University’sDepartment of Architecture and Design and herco-instructor Lara Captan (BA Graphic Design ’06)looked on as the duo told the group—mostly graphicdesign students—to move quickly and deliberatelyfor minimum drip. Musfy and Captan had invitedAshekman to take over their typography course for a dayfollowing student interest in the brothers’ work.Omar Kabbani summed up the aim of the workshop:“You can learn how to be a vandal, but in a good way.”In modern times, graffiti has come to be associatedwith vandalism. According to Captan, however, the termemerged in antiquity—the Italian word graffio means“a scratch”—and was coined to describe any mark on apublic wall, including now-prized Roman inscriptions.What we call graffiti has come to encompassanything from an illegible scrawl on bathroom walls tostreet art. “In the men’s bathrooms [at AUB], I’m told,they write about politics, and in the women’s bathrooms,24 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

234they write about sex,” Roseanne Saad Khalaf, an assistantprofessor of English and creative writing, commentedduring a recent discussion of the topic in one of herwriting classes.Graffiti that falls under the heading of street artgenerally breaks down into three categories: freestyle,stencils, and murals. These distinctions attempt to capturethe degree of preparation the artist undertakes beforeapproaching the wall and raising the spray paint can.Artistry aside, graffiti is officially illegal in mostplaces, including Beirut. Refusing to seek permissionand evading the authorities is part of the contemporaryculture of graffiti, which is, by definition, an antiestablishmentart form, anintervention (albeit temporary)into public space.What the typography students laboredover that day certainly looked like Arabic-style streetart—their “tag,” or initials, inscribed in eye-poppingcolors, veered toward bubbly or edgy style, the optionsof the day—but their designs decorated wooden boards,not standing walls, and the painting itself took placein broad daylight. There was no need to alert campussecurity. Everyone did exactly as they were told.This spectacle of enthusiastic obedience, whileclearly contrary to the popular image of graffiti, reflectscurrent trends in the art world and in the role of streetart in Beirut.The figurative wall that once cut off the academyand the gallery from the street has fallen, and graffiti1, 4, 5: Stencils on Hamra Street2, 3: AUB student work525

21crews at large—with the famed British street artist Banskyleading the way—have become respectable so long astheir work aspires to some sort of artistic standard andtargets appropriate blank space (e.g. a city wall) and notlandmarks (e.g. the Grand Serail, Ottoman-era barracks,now the headquarters of the Lebanese Prime Minister).In Beirut and its environs, AUB instructors haveencouraged students to use graffiti in communityprojects, and a handful of Lebanese graffiti artists, nowlocal celebrities, have attracted international interest.That group includes Ashekman and the electronic musicorganization Acoustamatik, as well as AUB architecturegraduate and Mashrou’ Leila vocalist Hamed Sinno. (It’scommon across cultures for graffiti artists to also bemusicians, spreading their messages through multiplemedia.) These crews often respond graphically to eachother’s work, adding what Sinno calls a “second-layer ofauthorship,” but they don’t otherwise collaborate. “Wedon’t have, like, a ‘scene,’” he says.Locally, graffiti is gradually taking on new functionsin post-war Beirut. Before the Doha Accords paved theway for an unprecedented regulation of the capital’spublic space, “Beirut’s graffiti, old or new, was used todivide the city into its many politically affiliated areas,”writes alumna Tala F. Saleh (BA Graphic Design ’07)in her recently published book Marking Beirut: A CityRevealed Through its Graffiti.Saleh is Saudi, but her fascination with graffitiled her to focus her final graphic design project on thesurfaces of Beirut’s walls and the messages they heldabout Lebanese culture and politics. She documentedhow the walls showcased the dominant affiliations ofeach neighborhood in the form of stenciled logos—theCommunist Party’s hammer and sickle, the LebaneseForces’ signature cross, the Syrian Social NationalistParty’s red hurricane, and many others.Here Beirut graffiti splits off from its counterparts,whether artistic or vandalistic. In wartime Beirut,34526 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate6

1, 2: Illustrations from Marking Beirut3-9: AUB student work10, 11: Stencils on Hamra Street9101178graffiti was anything but anti-establishment. Stencilersdidn’t need to avoid security. Their work served as anextension of the security apparatus watching over eachparty-affiliated neighborhood, a reminder to insidersand a warning to outsiders. In 2008, an agreement bythe main political factions of Sunni and Shiite Muslimsto remove their posters and symbols from Beirut streets,dramatically reduced the once pervasive stenciled partysymbols, and changed everything. “This resulted in aredirection of graffiti towards the artistic and patrioticcontext,” says Saleh in Marking Beirut.Saleh has noted this new trend. “I wish it was therewhen I was [doing the research],” she says. “The workthat Ashekman does is very creative and it takes a lot ofskill. I mean not anyone can take Arab letter forms…andsketch them out on such a huge surface. I think it teachesstudents how to think out of the box and how to thinkfast…if your skill in actually sketching [forms] out on thewall is not as strong, then it won’t come out the same.”When the director of the University’s NeighborhoodInitiative, Cynthia Myntti (MA Anthropology ’74),decided to include graffiti as part of a student workdayorganized in January 2009, she confronted the difficultyof creating true street art. “The sort of frescoes that groupsdo on walls, in fact, have a certain limited appeal, butmany people don’t like the artworkthat’s done,” Myntti explains. “So wedecided…to think about text and theways that words could be paintedon walls to make people think aboutthose walls in a fresh way.”The project that emerged,Al-Hitaan in Hakit (The Walls inConversation) enlisted dozens ofstudents to clean posters off thewalls of Abdul Aziz Street, repaintthem, and then decorate them withverses by Fairuz, Nizar Kabbani,Adonis, Lamartine, and Khaled elHaber, among others.“We saw this as sort of a temporary interventionat best, that anything you put on a public wall will sortof be responded to or reacted to,” Myntti says. Andthat’s exactly what happened. Less than a day passedbefore the swirling calligraphy took on that second layerof authorship, Acoustamatik’s geometric owls perchedwww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 27

123546on eachletter of aFairuz verse: “MinQalbi la-Beirut” (From MyHeart to Beirut).A year and a half later, the words andimages are still visible because no one has yet paintedor postered over them. There are signs elsewhere on thesame wall that political posters are making a comeback,but AUB’s project is typical of a new wave of graffiti thatfalls into a category Saleh loosely dubbs “social stencils.”Among the most remarked upon are the owls;Sinno’s portrayal of Egyptian diva Om Koulthoumsinging Lebanese pop star Haifa Wehbe’s lyrics, “Bousal-Wawa” (Kiss the Boo-Boo), and Mickey Mouse’s headwith the words “Nahna ma’ak” (We are With You).According to Sinno, the curving wall that branchesdown from AUB’s Medical Gate onto John F. KennedyStreet is particularly popular for a reason. “You don’t geta lot of security there, so it’s really safe,” he says.The old markings blanketed neighborhoodsby category, but the new ones tend to congregate inspecific areas of the city. Those on Abdul Aziz and JohnF. Kennedy Streets in Hamra and on the stairs leadingthrough Ain al-Mreisseh to the Corniche are generallyless elaborate than the mural-like designs that popup under the bridge in Karantina or along the wallsflanking the Beirut River.It has become far less acceptable to promotepurely sectarian sentiments on public property, but28 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

that’s not to say the new markings aren’t political,says Sinno, who started experimenting with wall artabout three years ago. “It’s not just sectarian politicshere; there’s also class politics, racial politics, sexualpolitics,” Sinno says. What’s on the wall may end upbeing political, but it typically starts as somethingpersonal, he explains. “I mean, stuff will happen andI’ll react to something that someone else spray paintedor someone will react to something that I sprayed andthen I’ll answer that.”Sinno searches for a way to explain the back-andforththat takes place in graffiti, the odd conversationthat isn’t because who really knows what it’s actuallysaying—today’s owls are yesterday’s hieroglyphics. Thesolution Sinno seizes upon points to what may be thefinal frontier of graffiti, perhaps even its graveyard: “It’skind of, like, you know, how people post comments onYouTube and they reply to each other. It’s like that—it’s awall.” Graffiti is no longer graffiti and, ultimately,even a wall isn’t what it used to be.—S.M.1: From Al-Hitaan in Hakit project2-8: Stencils on Hamra Street79-11: AUB student work891110www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 29

Beyond Bliss Streetin our historyThe SPC ManAs the Syrian Protestant College grew from a class of 16 students toan established university, students struggled to define exactly who the“SPC man” was—or should be. They expounded their ideas in their earlypublications; as the number of publications grew, so did the extent of thedebate, which can be explored by flipping through some of the early issuesof their magazines.Pages from The University Archives’ holdings of the Gazette includes nine volumes that cover the period 1913 to 1932.Between 1899 and 1932, students at the SyrianProtestant College (SPC)—individually, in smallgroups, through the venue of student societies, and forclass assignments—issued 63 handwritten and latertypewritten magazines. In 1906 alone, 16 differentpapers were published, the largest single year output inthe history of the school. The longest running magazineof this era was the Students’ Union Gazette, publishedby the elected Students’ Union, and issued irregularlybetween 1912 and 1932. The earliest papers were inArabic, but soon thereafter students wrote in English,French, and Armenian as well. Al-‘Urwa al-Wuthqa(1923-30) was the most important Arabic-languagepaper in this era. Because of the time required topublish each issue, students typically produced just twocopies, leaving one at the library and distributing the30 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Beyond Bliss Streetin our historyother among the student body. Jafet Library’s SpecialCollections contains very few complete runs of theseearly publications because many have been lost totime; however, there are still enough issues to provide apicture of the main themes they covered. Although themajority of the articles in these magazines are devoted toissues of character, civilization, religion, science, history,and models for individual success, above all else, theseearly papers read as self-help manuals that lay out thecharacteristics students require to be the “SPC man.”In their articles, students highlighted the charactertraits of hard work, perseverance, honesty, and loyalty theywanted to instill in their colleagues. Pioneers of SPC(1906) reports “the great inventions and dis-coveriesof the real fact that men had realized when seeing that,by will, great obstacles were surmounted and glorioustriumphs achieved.” Light (1906) concurs, saying, “themaster-key, by which all the doors of success can beopened, is Determination.” The same author clarifieshis point in a later issue of Light (1906), writing, “todetermine to do a thing is to do that thing earnestlyand enthusiastically; and to do a thing earnestly andenthusiastically means faith in himself and the thing.But faith in oneself and the thing means Success.”The Students’ Union Gazette (1913) declares“education is the training of the entire man, body,mind and character, and the first of all education isphysical education” and “persistent, intelligent effort[sic] were not made by accident, as some idle peoplepretend, but they were simply the result of many years’patient labor and perseverance.” Additionally, “strongwill is the quality which one must necessarily possess inorder to succeed” for “it is will or force of purpose thatenables a man to be or do whatever he sets his mind onbeing or doing. The proverb ‘Where there is a will, thereis a way’, was not said in vain; but it was the expressionwill win.” The article ends with the command, “DONOT WORRY, WORK!” In affirmation of this simpledoctrine, the Commercial S.P.C. Editor (1907) states,“the great men of affairs and those who are crowned inevery age with brilliant prosperity have not been thosewho try to grasp more than one subject at one time, butthey have been those personages who knocked at thedoor of cheerful hope with the hand of diligence andwww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 31

Beyond Bliss Streetin our historypersistance [sic], and whose lives have been continuallyspell-bound by the beauty of work and the satisfactionwhich is rewarded by toil.”Just about every issue of every magazine containedarticles detailing the successful men of literature, politics,and war that students should emulate. For example,students repeatedly exalted English writers like WilliamShakespeare, John Milton, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge fortheir eloquence and successful military men for adherence tothe concepts of freedom and liberty. The students’ favoriteso that we may be freed not from the yoke of a tyrant, norfrom the incubus of slavery, but from the stony fetters ofignorance.” In another American example, a student writesin The Miltonian (1903), “I take my pen to celebrate theimmortal glory of Daniel Webster, the father of Americanoratory and the example of those who by their perseveranceand industry and a gift from above, rise from poverty andlow ranks, until they attain the pinnacle of glory.”A 1916 issue of the Students’ Union Gazette put allthese characteristics together, asking “Who Is the Truepolitician was Abraham Lincoln because he embodied all thecharacteristics of the modern man they sought to acquire.University (1927) praises Lincoln because “this man leftmany everlasting traces and sayings that will never diein so far as they stand for the principles of liberty andthe rights of man.” The Review Organ of the FreshmanSchool (1927) says Abraham Lincoln “longed to better hiscountry”; “his ambition was good, a blessing to him andto his country.” The author calls on his fellow studentsto follow the path of Lincoln, for “the ambition we needis one actuated by a noble sentiment whose aim is theultimate good of the country. Let us then covet for ourcountry that ambition which springs from true patriotismGentlemen of the S.P.C.?” In answering this question,the author lists the traits that epitomize that man. “Inthe first place, he is polite and kind,” and has a “love ofwork.” For this latter trait, this gentleman recognizesthat “he does not depend upon others to do his work.He is not ashamed to carry his valise from the train tohis house—an act which many think is disgracing [sic].A gentleman is not ashamed to do any kind of honestwork because he knows that work is an object of life.”Furthermore, “with many things around him to interesthim and occupy his time he is never lonely or lazy. Heis always in good spirits, no matter where he is or whathe is doing.” Furthermore, for the author, “Service, or,32 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Beyond Bliss Streetin our historyin other words, the good, useful work one accomplishesfor his community, is the measure of his worth. The manwhose services are necessary to his community is theperson who is the true Gentleman of the S.P.C. becausewe come to this college to learn how to serve ourcommunity, country and the world but the Gentlemen ofthe S.P.C. are those who serve for the sake of humanity,for the sake of the welfare of their community. Thereforethe Gentleman of this college is the man whose motto is,‘I serve.’”them and help them to carry out their every day work;and without them the nation simply dies out of existenceand is never heard of.”As the world changed in the 1930s, so too did thestyle of student writing: the pages of al-Kulliyah Review(1933-46) and the second iteration of al-`Urwa al-Wuthqa(1936-54) reveal the dramatic changes that occurred inthe content of the school’s student publications. TheArab world moved to independence during this period;after World War II events such as those associated withThe author ends the article by saying, “I believethat the true Gentleman of the S.P.C. is a warm, sincerefriend; a hard working man; an efficient member of hiscommunity; and an embodiment of all that is nobleand true in manhood.” In a later article in the samemagazine in 1926, a student summed up the mainqualities AUB students must acquire. “Self-respect,ladies and gentlemen, self-confidence, self-reliance, selfcontrol,self-government, the spirit of cooperation and ofbrotherhood are some of the very important factors thatcontrol, direct, and shape the progress and developmentof any country or nation. These are as important to thestate as food is to mankind, to sustain them and nourishthe 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Algerian Revolutiondominated the pages of AUB’s new student newspaper,Outlook. Henceforth, student newspapers reportedevents in a more factually-based fashion as the politicalworld outside the Main Gate grabbed student attention.Written before this shift in student interest, the firstgeneration of student magazines provides a fascinatinglook at the goals and aspirations of SPC and AUB’s earlystudents; their primary goal was to prepare their fellowstudents to become the modern leaders that Arabsociety required.—Betty S. Andersonwww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 33

Writ LargeA new literary festival at AUB and a hint at what inspires and drives alumni authors around the world.When UNESCO named Beirut World Book Capital,2009, AUB had an “a-ha!” moment: it was the perfectoccasion to inaugurate an event celebrating hundredsof alumni authors. And thus the inaugural AUBAlumni Literary Festival came into being.There could have been few more appropriateoccasions for AUB to celebrate its alumni authorsthan as a coda to the year in which UNESCO namedBeirut World Book Capital, 2009. At the outsetthough, the task looked quite daunting.“We had nothing as a launch pad,” says GhadaRihani, programs committee chair of the WorldwideAlumni Association of AUB (WAAAUB). Rihani workedwith her committee members and the AUB staff, relyingon emails, Google, Wikipedia, and word of mouthto connect them with graduates who’d picked up theproverbial pen and fashioned something of merit. Theirlabors were not in vain, between producing the festivalitself (which is intended to be an annual event), andcompiling a database of alumni authors who might beenticed to play a greater role on campus.In addition to recognizing all of the alumni whohad published books and convening several relatedpanels, the festival committee chose to honor elevenextraordinary men and women who have shapedliterature. Not surprising, it is the alumni authorsthemselves who captured the event’s true significance intheir remarks at the honoring ceremony.Ameen Albert Rihani paid tribute to the intimateconnections that AUB forged between himself and histeachers, two of whom—Sami Makarem and Sadikal-Azm—were among those honored. “Ladies andgentlemen, I would like to remind myself today that I’mthe student of great professors at this University,” he said.Emily Nasrallah reflected on the University’sinfluence on her writing: “I believe that every letter Iwrote…has been an attempt to move beyond and affirmall that AUB first planted in my thoughts and my being.”AUB Sociology Professor Samir Khalaf took painsto describe the precise joy that writing evoked in his life:“A good day of writing makes me feel alive, makes mefeel spirited, focused, even at times invincible. It is notonly my Prozac, but…also my Viagra.”Khalaf’s wife Roseanne Saad Khalaf, a professor ofEnglish at AUB as well as a festival presenter and panelmoderator, praised the event’s potential to contribute toa stronger writing culture on campus. “I think it’s reallyimportant that [students] hear what writers have to sayabout the craft,” she said.To that end, we at MainGate decided to ask someof the honored authors about their craft, why theywrite, which of their books holds the greatest personalsignificance, and the source of their ideas. May theseanswers be the beginning of an ongoing conversation:34 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Sadik al-Azm onwriting about theOther and defyingtaboo…My writing processthrives on intellectualfriction with theOther and on theprovocations of theOther through educatedcritique, debate, controversy, polemic, dialogue,and exchange in addition to clear-headed, accuratescholarship, and rigorous thinking.Out of my own works in Arabic, Critique ofReligious Thought and Of Love and Arabic CourtlyLove remain the most meaningful to me becausethey critically engaged the forbidden trinity ofcontemporary Arab culture: sex, religion, andpolitics. For this reason they never went out ofprint, although first published in the late 1960s andbanned almost everywhere in the Arab world (whileavailable almost everywhere in the same Arab world).I certainly owe all that to Lebanon and Beirut inparticular.My favorite English publication is the widelyreproduced essay, “The Importance of Being EarnestAbout Salman Rushdie,” my critically timed defenseof a fellow transgressing and demythologizing authorcondemned to death on television and inadequatelysupported by the republic of letters in the West.Samir Khalaf onwriting to reclaimthe nation…In 1992, we visitedLebanon after anabsence of eight years.The rooster woke upRamzi, my youngestson. He was so takenby the jasmine andbougainvillea on the balcony, the things he had notseen in Princeton and New York. He said, Daddy, let’stake a walk. Normally, he runs ahead, but this time,he came close to me because he was afraid. I felthis hand was moist and, all of a sudden, Ramzi, ina poignant and profound sense, became emblematicof Lebanon’s predicament. There is the beautifullandscape and enchanting habitat, but there is alsofear, trauma, and anxiety, and the only way out isto reclaim the one and banish the other. The bookthat came out of this moment, Reclaiming Beirut(An-Nahar Press, 1993, preface by Edward Said) wasthe first attempt to focus on reconstructing Lebanonby reconnecting generations of youngsters with theirnatural habitat and, in doing so, awakening a senseof creative national identity, cohesion, and toleranceof the other.Sami Makaremon mysticism anddissimulation…Of the 25 books thatI have written, maybemy last book Al-’Irfanfi Maslak at-Tawhid(“Mysticism and theDruze Faith,” DruzeHeritage Foundation,2006) about the Druze sheikhs is most useful. TheDruze faith is an esoteric faith so it was difficult towrite about it. I was asked by the Druze religiousauthorities to write this book and I wrote it withouthiding anything. For the first time, this Islamic secthas been explained without any dissimulation. It isin Arabic, but I have translated it into English and itwill be published soon.I’ve also written poetry on the impact ofphilosophy in the Druze faith. One of those poetrybooks is Mir’at ‘ala Jabal Qaf (“A Mirror on MountQaf,” Dar Sader, 1996). The Mount of Qaf is amythological mountain and has been used in thetheology of Sufi Islam. I also consider this book to bea spiritual autobiography. It’s very mystical and Sufi.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 35

Emily Nasrallah onthe dual gifts ofobservation anddistraction…Writing for me is love.I call it in Arabic howaand not a duty or ajob. In my childhoodas well as now, I amshy. I like to live incorners…to listen or observe, and this really helpedme a lot in describing the characters of my novels.This ability to be away, to be in shadow, but at thesame time to be sensing and feeling the mood of themoment, all this goes into writing.What made me write for children was whathappened to us during the war. I had published threenovels by then and I felt all I had done was worthless,nothing. I stopped writing and I was taking care of mychildren. They were very young, they were afraid. Sowhenever we sat down, I started writing short storiesfor them, asking them to illustrate, to make them getbusy and forget what was going on outside the house.And one fruit of this hobby became my first novel forchildren, Al-Bahira (Dar Naufal) and it was publishedin 1978.Ameen Albert Rihani onimagining the writtenword…Writing to me is a cry, alaugh, an ecstasy, a pain,and an excitement. It is ajourney, a return, a stop,a revisit. Writing is anaction, a performance, anaspiration, a desire, anassociation, a confrontation. It is, as well, an excavationin the mine of language, painting on white canvas,haunting tunes we hear behind the echo of silence.Writing is a song beyond any expected melody, a drawingaway from any other sketch, and a chisel outside anyother carving tool. Writing is the guard of the temple orthe destroyer. It is discovering truth or ignoring it.It is a call for the birds to convene or disperse.The Festival honored the following elevenalumni authors for their contributions tothe literary world.Sadiq Jalal El Azm (BA ’57) is professor emeritusof modern European philosophy at the University ofDamascus in Syria. The recipient of the Erasmus Prizeand the Dr. Leopold-Lucas-Preis of the Evangelical-Theological Faculty of the University of Tübingen in2004, El Azm became a Dr. Honoris Causa at HamburgUniversity in 2005. He has written many books andarticles including The Origins of Kant’s Argumentsin the Antinomies (1972), Four Philosophical Essays(1980), and “Islam, Terrorism, and the West” inComparative Studies of South Asia, Africaand the Middle East (2005).Samir Khalaf (BA ’55,MA ’57) is professor ofsociology and director ofAUB’s Center for BehavioralResearch. He is the authorof numerous journal articlesand book chapters oncomparative modernization,socio-cultural history,urbanization, and post-warreconstruction includingSexuality in the Arab World(with John Gagnon, 2007)The Heart of Beirut (2006),Civil and Uncivil Violencein Lebanon (2002), CulturalResistance: Global & LocalEncounters in the Middle East(2001), Beirut Reclaimed(1994), Recovering Beirut(with Philip Khoury, 1993),Lebanon’s Predicament(1987), Persistence andChange in Nineteenth-Century Lebanon (1973),and Hamra of Beirut (1973).—S.M.36 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Elias Khoury (former student) is a prolific author whosewidely acclaimed works include The Little Mountain,The Journey of Little Ghandhi, and Gate of the Sun.Currently a global distinguished professor at New YorkUniversity, Khoury has also held academic appointmentsat Columbia University, AUB, and the Lebanese AmericanUniversity. A major figure on the Arab literary scenedating back to the early 1970s when he was a memberof the editorial board of the journal Mawaqif,Khoury was also editor of Shu’un Filastin (1975-79), editorial director of Al-Karmel (1981-82),editorial director of the cultural section ofAs-Safir (1983-90), and editor of Al-Mulhaq,the cultural supplement of An-Nahar,(1992-2009).Raymond Khoury (MA ’83) isinternationally known as theauthor of The Last Templar,the 2006 New York Timesbestseller that has beentranslated into 38languages and publishedin more than 40countries. Khoury,who trained andworked as anarchitect andlater ininvestment banking, is also know for his screenplays,including his work on the BAFTA award-winning BBCshows “Spooks” (known as “MI:5” in the United States)and “Waking the Dead.” Khoury is also the author oftwo other international bestsellers, The Sanctuary (2007),and The Sign (2009). The Templar Salvation, the sequel toThe Last Templar, is due out in October 2010.Sami Makarem (BA ’54, MA ’57) is a Lebanesescholar, writer, poet, and artist who has made importantacademic contributions to the fields of Islamic studies,Sufism, and Islamic history. He taught Arabic languagespecializing in Islamic Batini Studies at the Universityof Michigan and has written many books and articles onIslamic history and studies, Lebanese history, and theDruze faith. Among his publications are: The Druze Faith(1974), Al-’Irfan fi Maslak at-Tawhid (Mysticism in theDruze Faith, 2006), and Qasa’ed Hubb ‘ala shati’ Mir’at(Love Poems on the Shores of a Mirror, 2004). He hasbeen professor of Arabic at AUB since 1964.Marwan Muasher (former student) is senior vicepresident, external affairs at the World Bank and theauthor of The Arab Center. Muasher, who is a memberof the AUB Board of Trustees, was previously a memberof the Jordanian Senate (2006), deputy prime minister(2005) and foreign minister (2002-04) of Jordan, andJordan’s ambassador to the United States (1997-2002).He was awarded Jordan’s Independence Medal, FirstOrder in 1994 for his role in peace negotiations betweenJordan and Israel, and Jordan’s Kawkab Medal, FirstOrder in 2000 for his role in concluding the free tradeagreement between Jordan and the United States.Emily Nasrallah’s (BA ’58) first novel, Birds ofSeptember, which she published in 1962, earned herinstant praise and three Arabic literary prizes. It isnow in its thirteenth edition. She is a prolific writer,publishing many novels, children’s stories, and shortstory collections touching on family, village life,war, emigration, and women’s rights. Four ofher novels, Birds of September, Flight AgainstTime, Fantastic Strokes of Imagination, and AHouse Not Her Own, have been publishedin English. Nasrallah has also been afrequent panelist and participatedMainGate Fall 2010 37

in the 1988 International Olympics Authors Festivalin Calgary (Canada), and the 1989 PEN InternationalCongress in Toronto and Montreal.Ameen Albert Rihani (BA ’65, MA ’71) is the winnerof the Suda as-Subah 2003 first literary award forForgotten Springs. He earned his PhD in literature fromthe Lebanese University in 1996. He joined Notre DameUniversity, where he is currently provost, in 1997 andhas served in several positions. Rihani has published16 books and several articles and was recognized by theSuad as-Subah Literary Award Committee in 2006 as adistinguished author for A Train and No Station. He isalso the author of The Neigh of Wondering Songs (2009),Multiculturalism and Arab-American Literature (2007),Cities’ Grass (2002), and Water Rituals, Letters to Serene(1999).Ghassan Tueni (BA ’45) is a former Lebanese politicianand publisher of An-Nahar and cofounder and president(1970-82) of the Board of Directors of the French daily,L’Orient-Le Jour. A passionate defender of the freedomof the press, he has held many political and diplomaticpositions including deputy prime minister, head ofseveral Lebanese ministries, emissary and personalcounselor of presidents of the republic, and as Lebanon’sUN ambassador. A former member of AUB’s Board ofTrustees and current trustee emeritus, Tueni received anhonorary doctoral degree from AUB in 2005.Bookmarked... More than 100 books by alumni authorsKamal Salibi (BA ’49) is emeritus professor at AUB’sDepartment of History and Archaeology and honorarypresident (formerly, founding director) of the RoyalInstitute for Inter-Faith Studies in Amman, Jordan.Among his many publications are Maronite Historians ofMediaeval Lebanon (1959), The Modern History of Lebanon(1965), Crossroads to Civil War, Lebanon 1958-1976(1976), The Bible Came from Arabia (1985), Secrets ofthe Bible People (1988), Who Was Jesus?: Conspiracy inJerusalem (1988), A House of Many Mansions: The Historyof Lebanon Reconsidered (1988), The Historicity of BiblicalIsrael (1998), The Modern History of Jordan (1993), and ABird on an Oak Tree (2002).Ghada Samman (MA ’65) is a Syrian-Lebanese writer,journalist, and novelist and the owner Ghada SammanPublications, which she founded in 1977. The author ofsix collections of short stories focused primarily on Arabwomen and Arab nationalism, Samman wrote Beirut 75(1974), The Eve of Billion (1976), The Impossible Novel:Damascene Mosaic (1997), and A Costume Party for the Dead(2003), all in Arabic. In addition to a literary legacy thatincludes 40 books (some of which have been translated into15 languages), she is a columnist for Al-Hawadith.More On-lineThe inaugural AUB Alumni Literary Festival which was heldMarch 25 and 26 brought alumni together for an honoringceremony and book exhibit showcasing works by over 72alumni authors. The weekend also featured several paneldiscussions lead by alumni and a poetry reading moderatedby Assad Khairallah of AUB’s Department of Arabic and NearEastern Languages.Are you can alumnus author who would like to be contactedregarding the 2011 festival?If so, email: alumni@aub.edu.lb38 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

At AUB, 2,980 studentsreceived financial aidin 2009–10. Can youhelp one more?Architecture graduate Haig Papaziancredits his department with encouragingits students to explore “outside”interests. In addition to being a skilled,award winning architect, Haig hashelped to organize Talk20, an informalinteractive gathering of local artistsfrom different disciplines. He is alsoa gifted musician and a member ofMashrou’ Leila, a popular Beirut bandof AUB architecture and graphic designgraduates that has performed at theByblos International Festival and touredin Brazil, Europe, and the MENA regionin summer 2010. Although Haig receivedfull scholarships in his last two years atAUB, he says that his first three yearswere “very tough.” After graduation, hedecided to stay in Lebanon to practicearchitecture and gain experience atDW5 Bernard Khoury Architects whilecontinuing to compose music. Beirut,he says, allows for such flexibility.Looking back, he describes AUB onbalance as “an incredible experiencethat allowed me to achieve a lotacademically and in different creativedisciplines. I owe a lot to AUB.”Hear more: www.aub.edu/development/scholarship_initiativeTo speak to someone aboutsupporting financial aid, contactus at giving@aub.edu.lbSupportingStudentsOf Today and TomorrowCan you help supportan AUB student?Here’s one of their stories.MainGate Fall 2010 39

ComposingWriting makes a comeback.There has been an explosion of interest in writing atAUB. You can see it in what Visiting Professor of EnglishCarol Haviland describes as the “prolific output of textson campus bulletin boards,” the growing number ofstudent publications, the steady stream of students andfaculty members beating a path to the Writing Center,and in the overwhelming demand for creative writingcourses. Why this sudden interest in writing?Well, it turns out that it’s not actually that “sudden”but has been building gradually in recent years as AUBkeeps pace with changes that are being implementedat many US universities. These changes reflect arecognition that writing—not just essay writing, butmany forms of formal and informal writing—promotesactive learning. When students write, they integrate thematerial that they are learning in a way that significantlyenhances their understanding of the concepts they arewriting about.In addition to the importance of writing as anessential part of learning, another reason for theincreased focus on writing at AUB is that it is anessential communication skill. Somewhat surprisingly,it was not always appreciated as such. For many years,some students—and even some faculty members—especially in the hard sciences, business, and engineeringwere convinced that requiring students to write wasa waste of time that could be better spent masteringtechnical skills. After all, engineers don’t have towrite—or do they?“Engineers need technical skills—of course, butthey need communication and management skills aswell. They need to be able to write in order to sell theirideas,” says Engineering Professor Ali El Hajj. A numberof accrediting bodies such as the Council on Educationfor Public Health (CEPH) and the Accreditation Boardfor Engineering and Technology (ABET) agree with ElHajj and now require that schools and faculties seekingaccreditation include writing as part of their curricula.To encourage all of its students to developconfidence and competence as writers, AUB revised itsgeneral education requirements in 2008 to include twowriting intensive courses. These courses must be ina student’s major, use writing to enhance the learningprocess, and address the formal expectations for writingin their discipline. As chair of the Senate Committee onGeneral Education, El Hajj is playing a leading role in a“The rich multi-lingualexperience of many AUBstudents is a strength, not aweakness.”university-wide writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC)initiative that AUB is launching with support from theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation. So too is Haviland,who is working closely with AUB faculty to embedwriting within existing courses. Seventeen such coursesinvolving more than 1,000 students will be offered in2010-11.Writing Center Acting Director Natalie Honeinand her team of tutors, which includes both studentsand faculty members, is gearing up for what they expectto be an even greater demand for their services goingforward. Although she has some concerns that she willnot have the resources (in terms of space, a sufficientnumber of tutors, etc.) to meet the increased demand,Honein embraces the challenge and is working hard to40 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Student writing today...spread the word about the types of assistance that thecenter can—and cannot—offer. “We do occasionally getstudents who expect us to write their papers for them.This is not what we do. I tell all our tutors that ‘thepen must stay in the student’s hand at all times,’” saysHonein. Tutors Emma Moghabghab, Marwa Mehio, andAnita Moutchoyan all report that although students aresometimes disappointed when they discover that tutorswon’t actually write their papers for them, they areappreciative of the assistance that the center provides.You might think that because AUB students arewriting in what is often their second, third, or evenfourth language, these writing-rich courses would bedifficult for them. Haviland says, however, that thisis not the case: “The rich multi-lingual experienceof many AUB students is a strength, not a weakness:students come with a great deal of knowledge aboutlanguage acquisition and about the intersections oflanguage, meaning, and culture.” Education ProfessorSaouma BouJaoude agrees and goes on to explain thatit is not whether students are writing in their first,MEPSThe Issam Fares Institute published MiddleEast Policy and Society (MEPS) is a student-led academic web-basedjournal that consists of research and argumentative papers, andbook reports. The theme of this year’s journal is youth, but all nonfictionacademic papers pertaining to culture, health and society areconsidered for publication. Volume I, published in 2009, includedpapers on water strategies in the Jordan River Basin, coalition basedfiscal policies of aid and investment, and the Lebanese Army’simpact on institutional statehood, among other topics.[http://www.aub.edu.lb/ifi/ifi_saj/Pages/saj_home.aspx]OUTLOOKOUTLOOK is an independent publication which has been theofficial student newspaper of AUB since 1949. It features articlesacross the spectrum of student concerns from the intricacies ofacademic issues and changes on campus, to the impact of studentmovements and protests, and the mundane needs of daily life—good food, culture and entertainment.“In order to be able to writewell, you need to be able tothink well.”second, or third language that determines how wellthey write, but rather how much writing they havedone. “Because of the strong emphasis on writing inthe French educational system,” he says, “we find thatstudents coming from good French schools often writebetter—even in English—than students coming fromEnglish language schools.”Although a mastery of grammar and a richvocabulary are, of course, relevant, being able to thinkcritically and understand the topic that you want towrite about is the key. As BouJaoude says, “In order tobe able to write well, you need to be able to think well.”It makes sense then that AUB, which has enshrined inits mission statement its goal to graduate “individualscommitted to creative and critical thinking” is putting somuch emphasis on a skill that promotes creativityand critical thought.AlloyAlloy is a publication of the AUB student organization TheInsight Club whose mission is to provide mixed perspectives onliving a well-rounded, moral life focused on charity, and cultural,intellectual, and recreational enrichment. Personal reflections arepresented on a wide range of subjects, such as self-esteem, loss,competition, individuality, and responsibility for the environment.The Banyan TreeA literary journal ofshort stories, poems,plays and interviews thatencompasses “all voicesand styles,” The BanyanTree is an impressiveanthology of studentcreative writing. The dualityof desire with its creativeand destructive impulses isthe theme of The BanyanTree’s Winter 2010inaugural issue.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 41

Beyond Bliss Streetmaingate connectionsTrailblazerSalma with friends from Syria, Palestine and Jordan at a gathering welcoming new AUB students in 1955.Salma,in JordanMainGate welcomes contributionsfrom alumni reflecting on theirAUB experiences as well as storiesabout their lives after graduation.Submissions may be sent tomaingate@aub.edu.lbEditor’s note:More than 50 years after they graduated,Ann Kerr-Adams has interviewedsix of her AUB classmates todiscover the lives they have built inthe Middle East.I was immediately drawn to Salmawhen I first saw her in the women’shostel in fall 1954, shortly after I arrivedat AUB. She was a tall, graceful youngwoman with a reserved demeanor wholived down the hall from my four roommatesand me. Behind Salma’s reservewas a person of great intelligence andcandor, with a passionate concern forher Palestinian homeland and the old,conservative Muslim family from whichshe came. “I am from the most conservativefamily in the most conservativetown in Palestine,” she told me witha laugh. “The Jayyusi family has lived inthe village of Kur for centuries and onlymarried Jayyusis, but that custom nolonger exists. My goal was to study atAUB, and I am thankful that I was ableto attain that goal.”Salma was my source of learningabout an old way of life in the MiddleEast that was quite different fromthat of my other friends in the hostel.When she went home to her familyin the town of Tul Karm for schoolholidays, she covered her hair outof respect for her father’s traditionalviews, a custom no longer followedat that time in the families of otherMuslim classmates. Salma’s father,Hashem, was a highly educated andrespected man who had served asa minister in the governments of thefirst three kings of Jordan and was adedicated activist for Palestine. Onlysix years earlier in 1948, her family’slife had been altered forever by theBritish withdrawal from Palestine.Imprinted in Salma’s memorywere the dawn bombings on Tul Karmand the day all the inhabitants fled,except for her family, with only their42 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Beyond Bliss Streetmaingate connectionsneighbors and a small volunteer armyto defend them against the Zionistforces. She recounted this story tome last year as if it had just happened.“My father gathered us together andtold us he had eight bullets in his pistoland that if the Jews were to enter thecity he would shoot each one of usand then himself rather than let usface the likely atrocities of the invaders.The city was spared when anarmistice was declared, but the resultof this catastrophe was the annexationof the portion of Palestine to the westof the Jordan River to ‘East Jordan’under the name of the ‘West Bank ofJordan’. We were told it was a temporaryact, but it never reopened.”The prongs of Salma’s life havebeen formed by these childhoodmemories of political turmoil, herdevotion to family and her yearning foreducation for herself and the peopleof the Middle East. After graduatingfrom AUB, she taught in secondaryand post-secondary schools inJordan and then won a scholarshipfrom the United States InformationService (USIS) to study for a master’sdegree in teaching of English as asecond language (TESL) at Teachers’College, Columbia University. Shepassed her comprehensive exam in1960 with honors and returned toteach in Ramallah Teachers’ TrainingCollege for five years. In 1965, sheswitched careers to work at the ArabBank head office in Amman in chargeof foreign relations.Tempted by an offer from SaudiArabia to head a new private schoolfor girls, Salma left the Arab Bankand tried life in a more restrictedenvironment than she was used to.After a year, she decided to return toAmman where she accepted a jobwith the Ministry of Education headingthe English language section of theCurricula Department.In 1974 my friendship with Salmawas renewed when she came tostudy for a PhD at the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles (UCLA) ona scholarship she had won throughthe Jordanian Ministry of Educationand American Friends of the MiddleEast, the organization that helpsArab students apply to study in theUnited States. Although we hadkept in touch before, itwas during those threeyears when Salma studiedat UCLA that wecemented our friendshipas adults. We meton campus frequentlyand she became a partof our family, joiningus for Thanksgiving,Christmas, and summerbarbecues.After she returnedto Amman, we visitedher each time our familywent to Jordan. She continued herwork with the Ministry of Education,chairing a committee that revised theentire English language teaching curriculumand then was appointed executivehead of the Shoman Foundationwhich was founded and sponsored bythe Arab Bank for the developmentof science, arts, and research in theArab world. She was also an assistantprofessor at the University of Jordan.Salma has balanced her professionaland family life, being of greatsupport to her two older sisters withwhom she lived until the end of theirlives. Throughout her life she hasdedicated herself to improving conditionsfor Palestinian refugees. Sheis a key member in groups thatsupport care of the elderly and disabledand find ways to help studentsgo to university, both at home andabroad. “Our lives as Palestinianshave made us very sensitive,” shetold me, reminding me of her moreand articulate statements a few yearsago during the American invasionof Iraq War, “I am so disillusioned—can’t they feel the anger, the fury,the injustice they are doing? IslamJune 24, 1956: Salma receiving her AUBdiploma from Dr. Costi Zurayk.is so distorted and misunderstood.America is actually murdering thevalues it taught us.”The election of PresidentObama brought hope to Salma andmany others in the Middle East for afair solution to the Israeli-Palestinianconflict. They are still waiting—but Salma continues her work forthe Palestinian people, feeling theinjustice deeply but knowing thateducation is the best pathway wehave to maintain hope for the future.She remains grateful for hereducation at AUB.—A.K.A.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 43

Beyond Bliss Streeta l u m n i p r o f i l erandNameTarek Atrissi (BA ’00) hasestablished an internationalreputation as a graphic andtypographic designer runninga highly successful studio inthe Netherlands. He teachesdesign all over the worldand readily shares his ideasthrough his website and blog(www.atrissi.com).44 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Beyond Bliss Streeta l u m n i p r o f i l eMainGate: What attracted you toArab graphics and typographicdesign in the first place?Atrissi: It was mainly my education atAUB that created the strong interest inArabic graphic design and typography.I carried on this interest in Holland—where I focused on Arabic design andtypography in digital media—and laterin New York where I focused specificallyon type design.AUB emphasized the Arabic sideof typography and bilingual communicationand encouraged us to createa unique contemporary Arabic designlanguage that reflects the social, economic,and political environment of theMiddle East today.There was, however, relatively lessdone with Arabic typography, whichwas frustrating to see. This eventuallybecame the core philosophy of mystudio: starting from a specific focuson developing a contemporary Arabicgraphic design language, and growingto a larger interest in cross-culturaldesign and communication.What are the particular challengesfacing an Arab graphic designertoday?The not-so-well documented historyof Arabic design makes it harder forpracticing designers to find referencesfor inspiration and a clearly definedtimeline of the profession’s progress.The Arabic script is also complicatedand poses more difficulties to workwith in some aspects of design.What is your philosophy inconfronting these challenges?To stand out you need to have aspecific vision and approach. Thechallenge is to juggle between yourown personality in design while beingflexible enough so that it doesn’tbecome an obstacle to efficient visualcommunication.What inspires you?In the past I have drawn a lot ofmy inspiration from my teachers, andtoday I find myself always inspired bymy students—the upcoming designgeneration—who see things with fresheyes. I am lucky to have the chanceto work with students from differentbackgrounds through the variousworkshops and short courses I givein universities around the world. I amobsessed with documenting streetsigns, graffiti, and popular and politicalgraphic street manifestations—which Ialways bring back into my design workin one way or another.What have been the mainadvantages and disadvantages ofliving and working in Holland?Being based in Holland—with its longand rich tradition in visual arts andgraphic design—nourishes my studio’scross cultural design approach.Although I travel extensively to Lebanonand the Middle East, because we liveoutside the Arab world, we are ableto look objectively at the region inour research on aesthetic trends anddesign conventions.Which project, to date, has givenyou the most satisfaction?If I had to choose, it would be designingthe logo of Al-Ghad daily newspaper inJordan in 2004. The newspaper was anewcomer then and I never anticipatedthat it would grow to become oneof the most established brands inJordan. The philosophy behind thedesign was to create contemporary,simple Arabic lettering that is boldand confident, and the opposite of therather traditional calligraphic approachother newspapers adopt on their mastheads.The client accepted a daring,www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 45

Beyond Bliss Streeta l u m n i p r o f i l edifferent design proposal, and thathelped Al-Ghad’s identity.What has been the main personalchallenge so far?The fact that, at the end of the day,graphic design is a business. So actuallyit is the non-design aspect that isthe most challenging.What is on the drawing board atthe moment?A lot of exciting projects! We are brandinga small museum in Amsterdamwith an interesting Saudi art collection;designing a customized Arabic andLatin font for a new TV channel; anddeveloping a complete visual identityfor two new restaurants, in Beirutand Utah, as well as other interestingprojects, some of them for the nonprofitsector.What would be your dreamproject?To create the full corporate identity, visuallanguage, and branding for the Olympicgames when they take place in theArab world for the first time.It will be such a challengingt a s kto conceptualizeandvisualize the identityfor such an internationaland historic eventbut still give it a local flavor—to createan iconic visual identity from the Arabworld that is as unique and as localizedas that of the Mexico 1968 Olympics,designed half a century ago by thelegendary Lance Wyman.Inevitably I have to ask you how itfelt to “design a nation”?[Qatar] was a very exciting commission:branding an entire country! Itis a country that holds onto itsArab roots but needed toexpress them visually to awestern audience. Nationbranding is so rare an occurrence forany designer to experience, and thereis not much training or research doneon the subject. I looked at what othercountries have done in terms of nationbranding during the last 30 years,and carefully analyzed why some weremore successful than others. The logoof Spain, developed by Joan Miró, wascertainly one of the examples. Onething I read that I found to be true isthat specific things come to mind whenmentioning a country—some negativeand some positive. Take Colombia,for example, you think coffee, drugs,jungle, kidnapping—a mix of positiveand negative images. It will alwaysbe debatable if a logo can reflect anentire culture of a country, but it shouldpresent its positive image. I lived inQatar for the entire project, just undera year, which helped me experienceand understand the city and countryboth as a foreigner and a local, whichresulted in the final, simple calligraphicapproach that was adoptedbehind the branding of Qatar.What is the most exciting part ofyour day?The part which involves the core of thecreative process, and that is mainlythe time I spend with my sketchbook:I started my sketchbook when I wasat AUB—conceptualizing ideas, scribblingthoughts, and experimenting withshapes and forms. They are honestand natural case studies that you cankeep referring to and learning from. Inreality they are much deeper and moremeaningful portfolio pieces thanany finished product.—M.A.More On-line46 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

ABeyond Bliss Streetlegends and legaciesKindredSpiritOften described as the “Father ofthe Arabic Renaissance,” BoutrosBustani was an Arab writer, scholar,and educator who knew and workedwith the American Protestant missionarieswho went on to establishthe Syrian Protestant College (SPC)in 1866. In addition to teachingmany of them Arabic, Bustani collaboratedwith Dr. Cornelius VanDyck, who he met in 1841, on atranslation of the Bible. He alsopublished two Arabic dictionaries(including Muhit al Muhitor Ocean of Oceans), foundedseveral journals and literarymagazines, and began—butdid not complete—a widelyacclaimed Arabic encyclopedia(Da’irat al Maaref or Circleof Knowledge).Bustani believed passionatelythat ignorance was “thesource of discord and religiousfanaticism, which made the citizensof a country ‘easy playthings’ in thehands of foreigners who sought todivide the nation so as insidiously torule it.” 1 His lifelong commitment tosecularism and the power of educationto combat ignorance and unite adisparate people led him to found theNational School in 1863: a place thatwelcomed “students from all religionsand all races without distinction. Itrespects their beliefs and compels no1. Footnote cited in Khalil Abou Rjaili, “BoutrosAl-Boustani (1819-83),” Prospects: thequarterly review of comparative education,Paris, UNESCO: International Bureau ofEducation, vol. XXIII, no. 1/2, 1993, page125-33 as follows: “Boutros el-Boustany, NafirSuriya,, no. 9, 14 January 1861.”one to embrace a religion other thanthat of his parents.” 2 (Interestinglyenough, Daniel Bliss echoed someof the same sentiments at the layingof the cornerstone of College Hall in1871: “This College is for all conditionsand classes of men, withoutregard to color, nationality, race orreligion. A man, white, black, or yellow;Christian, Jew, Muhammedan orheathen, may enter and enjoy all the2. Footnote cited in Ibid., as follows: “Reportwritten by al-Boustani and published in hisreview Al-Jinan, Vol. 4, 1873, p. 62.”3. The Founding Fathers of the AmericanUniversity of Beirut: Biographies, compiled byGhada Yusuf Khoury, page 18.4. Stephen B.L. Penrose, Jr., That They Mayadvantages of this institution.... andgo out believing in one God, in manyGods, or in no God…”)The founders of the SPC wereoriginally planning to use Bustani’sschool as the College’s preparatorydepartment, 3 but “after two years ofslowly developing friction, the plan ofcooperation was given up.” 4 Despitethe friction that existed especiallybetween Daniel Bliss and Bustani, 5there is also overwhelming evidencethat relations between thetwo men were—at least initiallyand for a period of time—quitegood. After all, the Collegewelcomed its first class of 16students in rooms that it rentedfrom Bustani. 6Although AUB has both aLaura Bustani Hall (one of thewomen’s dorms) and also anEmile Bustani Hall (also known as“the Physics Building”), there is noBoutros Bustani building. It seems,however, that Emile and BoutrosBustani were related as they werefrom the same village of Debbieh. Inher book, A Marriage Out of Time,Laura Bustani, who is the widow ofLebanese businessman, philanthropist,and politician Emile Bustani (BE’28) and the mother of current AUBtrustee Myrna Bustani, states thatEmile’s father was a “kinsman”of Boutros Bustani.Have Life: The Story of the American Universityof Beirut 1866-1941,” page 29.5. In Letters from a New Campus, page 55, DanielBliss complains about the “selfishness, prideand excessive vanity of Butros and all like him.”6. Founding Fathers, page 18www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 47

Beyond Bliss Streetr e f l e c t i o n sEngineeringChangeFaculty of Engineering andArchitecture Dean Ibrahim Hajjfirst touched down on the AUBcampus 50 years ago. Freshlyretired from the deanship,today he talks about the effectsof more students, more faculty,and more buildings.MainGate: When did you firstarrive at AUB, and what were yourfirst impressions?Ibrahim Hajj: I went to AUB directlyfrom International College in 1960,so moving across to AUB was nobig change. The courses were morefocused, and it was exciting to be inengineering.After my MS in New Mexico I wentto California to do my PhD because Ithought Berkeley would be more exciting.Berkeley was never too violent. Wehad the National Guard on campus—and tear gas. But those years fullof new ideas really transformed mylife—teaching me that social issuesare more important than technology.Teaching me humility and respect forother people.What were your impressions whenyou returned to AUB as dean?I had visited Lebanon throughout myyears in the United States and Canada,but it was exciting to come back toAUB as dean, especially since I hadstarted as an AUB student almost 40years earlier.Maybe I was idealistic, but Iwanted to do something for Lebanonand AUB, although I was establishedat the University of Illinois, where I’dbeen teaching for 22 years. Leavingthe United States was a big move formy wife and me, especially leavingthree of our five sons behind.How was AUB different from theAUB of your undergraduate years?Everything was bigger—more students,more faculty, more buildings,new administration—lots of planningmeetings and lots of discussions ofprograms and formulating of proceduresand regulations.When I was a student we hadblock programs [in engineering], andwhen I returned they were still in place.Students took specific courses in specificsemesters: they could not select.If they failed two courses they had torepeat the whole year. So the first thingwe did was change to a credit system.Certain courses are still required, butstudents can elect courses, and if theyfail, they repeat only that course—notthe entire year. We introduced newcourses and retired obsolete ones.What were the effects of thechanges?Parents and students were happy48 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Beyond Bliss Streetr e f l e c t i o n sbecause students no longer lost timerepeating years—and could takeelectives. We also introduced minors.Faculty members were happy, too. Wenow have about 80 full-time professorialrank faculty members [in engineering],but even that’s not enough for ouralmost 1,800 undergraduate students,200 master’s, and 36 PhD students.Our accomplished faculty membersmake our programs very strong.As dean, do you teach?I used to teach a graduate courseoccasionally, but lately I’ve been toobusy with administrative work. But Imiss the teaching—I like to teach.What do you think students willremember about you as a teacherand as a dean?Well, you’d really have to ask them. Ihope they’d say I was a good teacher,because although I taught theoreticaltopics, I always insisted on projects.In applying computer programmingto implement theoretical results, theylearned something practical.I wish I’d had more time to interactwith students. When I was a student,the dean used to meet with us everyweek, but then we were only 300 students.I’ve tried to meet with studentswhenever possible. I walk around andtalk with them, and I get positivefeedback. They complain, of course,but what I hear [back from them] is that[they know] I listen to them. As a deanyou really have to listen to, and nurtureboth students and faculty.How do you nurture facultymembers?I’ve never had a top-down style ofmanagement. I like to consult. I makethe decisions, of course, but peopleneed to feel part of the process.When we were establishing the PhDprograms, the faculty had to writethe proposals and believe they couldsucceed. I could not do it on my own.When we prepared for accreditation,I tried to make sure every facultymember was involved.Are there any particular programsyou are especially proud of?The PhD programs. We now offerPhDs in all engineering disciplines.The PhD programs have attractedexcellent faculty members who feelthey can come here and establishcareers. A strong graduate programstrengthens the undergraduate programas well. This year we startednew undergraduate programs in constructionengineering and in chemicalengineering, which will develop into anew department.We have attracted more funding—eightmillion dollars in endowedfunds to support research and PhDprograms and another eight million forfour endowed chairs/professorships—three in engineering and one in architecture.We have received many otherdonations to support undergraduatescholarships and graduate research,as well as donations for lab equipmentand state-of-the-art computer labs.What major changes have takenplace at AUB and in FEA while youwere dean?Everything is much bigger now—morestudents, more faculty, and more buildings,especially on the lower campus.When I was a student the different facultieswere like islands, but now there ismore communication across the wholecampus. Before, professors came fromArts and Sciences to teach coursesin this building. [Bechtel EngineeringBuilding]. As dean, I have insisted thatour students take these courses onupper campus where they can interactwith non-engineering students. This ishealthier.What has been most fulfillingabout being dean?To see things happening. Really. Youplan and work for years. And you don’tknow if things will happen. Right nowwe have a new building [the Ray R. IraniOxy Engineering Complex] going up. Ithought these dreams would neverhappen. This is enormously fulfilling.In 2001 we set up an InformationTechnology Unit to handle all our IT.Now we don’t spend much time onpaper work. Everything is automated,from student and faculty records tostudent petitions.Our students have to do internshipsas part of their education. When Istarted as dean students often did theirinternships here in Lebanon, becausethey had to find the internships themselves.We were taking care of themwhile they were studying, but not whenthey graduated.In 2002 we established the CareerDevelopment Center in FEA, and hireda career development officer. Thecenter helps students find internshipsas well as permanent jobs when theygraduate, and even finds some jobsfor alumni. About 800 companies aremembers of the center. One hundredpercent of our graduates find jobs.We held our first annual StudentConference in May 2002, and today itbrings alumni to give talks and receiveOutstanding Alumni Awards. Studentswww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 49

Beyond Bliss Streetr e f l e c t i o n sgive papers and poster presentations,and a student music concert endsthe conference. Since 2008 non-AUBstudents have been invited to submitpapers.We have improved the physicalfacilities too. When I became dean,we had two buildings for laboratories,Wing B and Wing C—the verysame buildings that I, as a student,had done experiments in—same labs,same space, and even the sameequipment—almost 50 years earlier.We first began to renovate, butthen we began planning a replacementbuilding. In November 2003 we spentweekends writing specifications. [Thelate] Trustee Kamal Shair asked architectsfrom Dar Al-Handasah to workwith us over the winter holiday. Afterstudying all the buildings—Bechtel,Ghosn, the labs—we came up witha master plan for the interior of allthe buildings. The new CCC ScientificResearch Building was built to giveus a place for the labs so we couldtear down the old lab buildings. Nowthere’s a big hole where the new IraniOxy Engineering Complex, funded byTrustee Ray Irani and the OccidentalPetroleum Company, will be built.We’ve moved the labs frequently justto keep the programs going.Actual construction of the complexshould begin this summer andtake around three years to complete.Every square meter of the building isoccupied on paper. New buildings,new labs, new equipment—all arenecessary for the programs to stayhealthy. After the Irani Oxy buildingis finished, the Bechtel EngineeringBuilding will be renovated from theinside, and we plan to renovate theArchitecture Building, which is nowcalled the Dar Al-Handasah Shair andPartners Architecture Building, and theRaymond S. Ghosn Building, too.Why are you stepping down now?Well, this is my tenth year as dean,and I think it’s time for someone elseto contribute to the faculty with newideas. I’m definitely not retiring. I’mgoing on leave for one year, and willthen come back to teach and doresearch.What will you do during youryear’s leave?I want to get back to research in computeraided design of integrated circuits(chips), circuits used in electronics—incell phones, computers, and I alsowant to finish a textbook I started. I willbe working in the lab at the Universityof Illinois, and I will travel to participatein a number of professional meetingsand conferences.What has been the impact of AUBon your life?AUB really set my life’s path. If I hadn’tcome to AUB I don’t know what I wouldhave been. AUB gave me the basicknowledge and training, so I had noproblem coping with graduate studies.What do you see as the future forengineering and architecture atAUB?I am confident that engineering,architecture, and graphic design arenow up-to-date and moving forward.I am positive about the future. Weare on the cutting edge in teachingand research. We hire excellentfaculty from top universities around theworld. When we advertise we receivetens of applications from the bestIbrahim Hajj(AUB BE ’64)1964: AUB BE (Electrical Engineering)1966: MS, University of New Mexico,Albuquerque (Electrical Engineering)1970: PhD, University of California,Berkeley (Electrical Engineering)1971–79: Postdoctoral Fellow,Assistant, and Associate Professor,University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada1973–75: Assistant Professor,Lebanese University1978–2000: Assistant, Associate, andProfessor, Electrical and ComputerEngineering; Research Professor,Coordinated Science Laboratory,Beckman Institute, University of Illinois,Urbana-Champaign1990–present: Fellow, Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers2000–present: Professor Emeritus,University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignSince 2010: Fellow, AmericanAssociation for the Advancement ofScienceuniversities—MIT, Princeton, Michigan,Berkeley, Stanford—and these facultymembers drive our research andteaching ahead. We have also beenreceiving funding from the EuropeanUnion—four or five grants each worthfour or five hundred thousand Euros.And recently we received three highperformance computing labs—onefrom Intel, one from Fujitsu-Siemens,and one from Apple—that are heavilyused by both engineering students andfaculty, and also by faculty membersacross campus. We recently receivedfunding from Intel to do research in lowenergy chip design. I think the futurelooks bright for AUB’s Faculty ofEngineering and Architecture.—J.M.C.50 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

t i m e f l i e sBeyond Bliss StreetThe crowds gather for the results of the 1965 Miss AUB elections. Sociology freshman Aida Mansour was elected MissAUB. (Outlook vol. 21, no. 14, 1966)MainGate Fall 2010 51

alumni happenings—reunion52 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

alumni happenings—reunion“Let’s beginhere again.“Each year, alumni come back to Reunion to relive the AUB experience; this year,many actually graduated for the first time.On July 2 over 200 graduates from the classes of 1975and 1985 closed an unfinished chapter of their lives atAUB when they received their degrees from PresidentPeter Dorman in an official commencement ceremonyat Assembly Hall. Proud spouses, parents, children,and relatives of the celebrating alumni packed the hall towatch at long last their mothers and fathers, sons anddaughters, parade in their caps and gowns. The classeshad waited 35 and 25 years, respectively, for their officialcommencement ceremonies since the events had beencancelled during the war.Class of 1975 keynote speaker Flare Majali noted:“The Milk Bar, Nicely Hall, Faisal, Fisk, Speaker's Corner,the Oval, the dorms, Bliss Street, Yum-Yum: some nameshave changed, but the spirit remains: visions emerge andtake shape here…Today we are back, and, in the spiritwe began in, let us pretend for tonight that we have beengiven the chance to start again...Let’s begin here again.”Speaking for the class of 1985, Kamel Abdallah sharedhis reminiscences of the AUB experience and offeredhis classmates this advice: “This is the time to look inthe mirror and to have an honest conversation with oneself…tolive the values that AUB stands for…That, asGibran said, we combine passion with reason…” Eventproceedings were conducted by Ghada Rihani, chair ofWAAAUB’s Programs Committee, and WAAAUB treasurer,Karam Doumet.The special evening continued with a gala dinner atLe Particulier, one of Beirut’s premier French restaurantsand featured musical performances and much dancingby alumni and guests into the late hours. Saturday wasoccupied by brunch on the terraces of the Charles W.Hostler Student Center, reminiscing with deans, musicby student band Madjam, and an honoring ceremony forthe class of 1960.The Class of 1960 celebrated their 50 th reunionin the Hostler Center auditorium. A record number ofseventy alumni from around the world received a specialcommemorative gift from President Dorman andWAAAUB Vice President Genane Maalouf. ClassmateMahmoud Abdul Baki offered words of welcome andkeynote speaker Haralambos “Harry” Harris shared histhoughts on the time spent on campus 50 years ago.World Cup fever was in full swing on Saturdayevening when the Reunion class of 2005 held their“Football Euphoria” on the roof terrace of the HostlerCenter. Giant screens broadcast the Spain versusParaguay match while an overflowing barbeque buffetkept the fans full but not distracted from the game.On Sunday morning, three busloads of Reunion celebrantsand their families set off from Beirut for the familyouting that began with a traditional Lebanese breakfastand tour of the AUB farm in the Beqa’a. The nextstop was a wine tasting and tour of the winery Clos St.Thomas, owned and operated by AUB alumnus FadloTouma. After sampling the wines and touring the caveswhere the wines are kept, alumni and guests motoredon to Touma’s nearby residence where he generouslytreated 150 guests to an abundant luncheon under theshady green arbors of his property, with traditional entertainmentprovided by local musicians.All told, over 700 alumni from celebrating classescame back to campus to participate in Reunion2010 and relive their AUB years together.More On-lineDr. Kamal Abdallah, class of 1985 keynote speaker, after receiving his degree.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 53

alumni happenings—reunion“In our last year wecame to understandthat this bliss wasmore than the nameof a street: it was ourAUB experience.”—Flare MajaliTop left: Graduates of 1975 and 1985 line up after receiving their degrees.Far left: Alumni of the class of 1960 celebrate at the honoring ceremony for their 50 th anniversary of graduation; President Dorman and WAAAUB VP Genane Maalouf atthe 50 th honoring ceremony; Reunion dinner guests.54 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

alumni happenings—reunion“The walls, the oldtrees, the greenbenches…touched meas a student…”—Kamel AbdallahClockwise from top right: Class of 2005 graduates view a World Cup soccer match on the roof of the Charles W. Hostler Student Center; Harry Haroumboulos (BE ’60)and friends enjoying luncheon at the residence of Fadlo Touma (BEN ’66, MEN ’69); family outing at the AUB farm; touring the Clos St Thomas vineyard; enjoying dinnerat Le Particulier.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 55

Northern CaliforniaThe Northern California Chapter organized the first of twoevents in the area on June 12. North Bay alumni gathered at BJ’srestaurant and sports bar in Walnut Creek to watch the US teamplay its first match of the World Cup. The second gathering wassouth of San Francisco at the Elephant Bar and Restaurant inBurlingame where alumni enjoyed good food and drinks and aview of the bay on Saturday, July 24.(Top) North Bay World Cup fans (Bottom) Alumni at the Elephant Barand RestaurantMichel Farhat (BS ’74, MS ’77, PhD ’81), Leslie Hopkins and ChrisHopkins (MA ’71)South Florida Chapter dinner in Coral GablesOhio ValleySouth FloridaA group of AUB alumni, family and their friends from Columbus,Dayton and Cincinnati gathered on June 13 at a picnic organizedby the Ohio Valley Chapter. The picnic was held at Possum CreekMetroPark in Dayton, Ohio. The chapter extends their many thanksto everyone who made the picnic a fun and enjoyable event.About 40 members of the South Florida Chapter got together fordinner at the Maroosh Mediterranean Restaurant in Coral Gableson June 10. Although they were a diverse group that transcendedgenerations, they shared a love of Mediterranean cuisine, anappreciation for the raffle made possible by Rima Otrakji’s (BA’84) donations, and fond memories of AUB—more than enoughto ensure a good time for all. Among the attendees were formerchapter presidents Dr. Walid Mnaymneh (BA ’51, MD ’55) andDr. Fuad Ashkar (BS ’58, MD ’62), current president Dr. AlexZakharia (BS ’58, MD ’62) and treasurer Dr. Mohammad Masri(BS ’70). Many thanks to Vice President Dr. Ziad Khatib (BS ’83,MD ’86) who organized and emceed the event.Tarnib, Tawleh, Arba'a-miyya, Mahbouseh, and ScrabbleAlumni from the Greater Washington DC Chapter gathered to watch theWorld Cup match between Argentina and Mexico at Piola in Arlington,Virginia on June 27. Unlimited pizza, salad, drinks and fun... Germanyhad just beaten England, to the delight of chapter leadership.OttawaGreater Washington, DCOn May 30, Ottawa-based alumni and friends got together tospend a relaxing Sunday afternoon together. After drinking copiousamounts of coffee and enjoying the narguileh, they got down to theserious business of playing games. There was Tarnib, Tawleh, anail-biting round of Arba’a-miyya (400), Mahbouseh, and Scrabble.Although the pace was fast and furious and the competition wasfierce, everyone had a great time. The Scrabble trophy went toLina Esber (BS ’02) for her score of 186; other trophies wereawarded to Salah Merhi and Fadi Gebeily (Arba’a-miyya), NazikBitar and Salwa Hafez (Tarnib), and George Absi in Mahbouseh.The Ottawa Chapter “got physical” during their outdoor picnic onJune 27 at Vincent Massey Park in Ottawa with frisbee, football,and badminton. Alumni and friends from as far away as Montrealtook part in the afternoon event that featured games for young amateursand the young-at-heart, scrumptious food for everyone, andthe bubbling whispers of a few narguilehs. Not even a few dropsof rain could dampen the mood that day that was made possible56MainGate Fall 2010

y generous volunteers, Chin radio and Lebaneseinottawa.com,and CLIC Foods that donated refreshments.People are still talking about the film and discussion that took placeat the Phillips Lounge in Montreal on July 22. Organized by theMontreal Chapter, this was the fourth event in the Seminar SeriesProject (SSP) launched last year by the chapterto introduce the community to accomplishedindividuals from diverse fields. Thefocus of this Café Littéraire was a screeningof the 10-minute film entitled “June” followedby a lively discussion with the film’s director,Karim B. Haroun (BS ’04).More than ninety AUB alumni, friends and families gathered for abrunch organized by the newly elected executive committee of theToronto chapter on July 25 at Zanobia Restaurant and Lounge.After introducing the committee members, Rana El-Mogharbel(BA ’97, MA ’99), president of the Toronto Chapter, presented thecommittee’s vision and goals for this year and urged continuousparticipation from all members and friends in an upcoming seriesof networking events and cultural projects. In addition to meetingold friends, making new ones, and reviving College Hall memories,everyone enjoyed a wide selection of Middle-Eastern delicacies aswell as the lovely tunes of live oud playing on a relaxed TorontonianSunday.AUB alumni and friends who gathered on June 18 at theIntercontinental Park Lane Hotel for the WAAAUB UK alumni galadinner enjoyed the opportunity to hear Central Bank of LebanonGovernor Riad Salame (BA ’73) discuss the Lebanese economyNorth Texas–Dallas New York MetropolitanToronto(Top left) A law against open flames in Sheep Meadow kept JaafarHaidar (BS ’99) from enjoying his narguileh, but he still posed fora picture... (Top right) Maya Rafih (BA ’09), who just started hermaster's in architecture at Columbia University, and Darine Hakim(Bottom) The New York Metropolitan Chapter held a picnic for alumniin Central Park on June 18. The many guests included ConsulGeneral of Lebanon Antoine Azzam (BS ’74).Dallas Chapter picnic in Bicentennial Park in Southlake, TexasToronto Chapter committee: Rabih Hijazi (BA ’00), Dr. Lara ElZahabi-Bekdash (BS ’01, MD ’05), Rana El Mougharbel(BA ’97, MA ’99), Mirna Rahal (MPH ’96), Wahbi Hammouda(BS ’75), and Maha Zabaneh (BA ’84, past chapter president)Rings TrueAUB first held class ring ceremonies in1968, but the tradition was lost for yearsuntil it was revived this June. Initiated by theUniversity Student Faculty Committee (USFC)and supported by WAAAUB and its ProgramsCommittee, the class ring ceremony tookplace on the Green Field. One thousand,three hundred freshly minted alumni receiveda silver band engraved with two cedar treesbetween the words “American University ofBeirut Class of 2010.” As they receivedtheir rings, the recent graduates pronouncedthe new oath that officially welcomed themto the alumni community: “With this ring wesalute you, our alma mater. We promise tobe faithful and committed to our belovedAUB.” Forty-five-year-old alumna NadineYared (MS ’10), who graduated for thefifth time, this time with a master’s degree,was excited about receiving her first ring.“I wanted my children to see this so thatit would make them want to graduate too,”she said.MainGate Fall 2010 57

WAAAUB UK alumni gala dinnerUnited Kingdomand the country’s robust banking system. Samba dancing, comedyby Pierre Chamassian, raffles, and auctions were also on themenu on Friday evening combining to make this year’s gala dinnera very successful and enjoyable occasion for everyone.More than 150 alumni and friends gathered at the Diplomatic Clubon June 9 for the Qatar Chapter’s Quiz Night. Despite the friendlycompetition among the 10-person tables, the overwhelming feelingin the room that evening was one of belonging and goodcheer—that feeling that unites all AUB alumni and friends. Folksare already looking forward to their next meeting, which will be thechapter’s annual gala dinner on November 4.WAAAUB: ChapterElectionsAtlantaMohammad Wehbi (BS ’91, MD ’96) PresidentMikhael El-Chami (BS ’96, MD ’00) VicePresidentRonnie Ramadan (MD ’06) SecretaryZiad Kazzi (BS ’95, MD ’99) TreasurerTalar W. Markossian (BS ’00, MPH ’03)Member-at-LargeJulia Massaad (BS ’98, MD ’02) Member-at-LargeMashhour Solh (BE ’05) Member-at-LargeQatarNabil Boulos (BEN ’66) PresidentRola Atiyeh (BS ’91, MS ’93) Vice PresidentRola Sabban (BBA ’78, MBA ’82) TreasurerJean-Pierre Honein (BEN ’00) SecretaryBassam Al-Awar (BEN ’91) Member-at-LargeGergi Abboud (BEN ’90) Member-at-LargeRajaa Hammoud (BS ’84, MPH ’99) Memberat-LargeLamaan Itani (BA ’02, MA ’07) Member-at-LargeWAAAUB: Third AnnualElectionsThe results of the WAAAUB 2010 elections wereannounced on July 1. Alumni from around theworld cast their electronic ballots for Board ofDirectors, Council and Alumni Trustee positions.The newly-elected Board and Council memberswill take office on October 1, 2010 and willserve for two years. The election returns werewhich conducts elections for many non-profitand professional organizations. The results arealso displayed on the WAAAUB website at: www.waaaub.org/election2010.htmlCongratulations to the newly electedWAAAUB leadership!WAAAUB 2010 Election ResultsAlumni TrusteeNajat Zarour (BA ’68)Young Alumni TrusteeFawzi Melhem (BS ’01)WAAAUB Board of Directors(Terms of office: 2010–12)Abdul Hamid Bibi, MENA (BBA ’64)Saadiyah Khawar Khan Chishti, Asia (MA ’59)Karam Doumet, Rest of World (BA ’74)Rima El Kadi, Lebanon (BBA ’79)Talal T. Farah, Europe (BA ’62)Genane Maalouf, North America (BBA ’98)Nadim Maluf, North America (BEN ’84)Ioannis Violaris, Europe (BA ’78)At-Large Member of WAAAUB AlumniCouncil (Terms of office: 2010–12)AsiaYoussef Dagher (BBA ’98)EuropeAyman Kichly (BEN ’03)Laila Farhood (BS ’71)May Fawaz (BA ’04)Ramez Haddad (BS ’74)Sahar Alam Hamze ((BA ’83, MBA ’86)Jad Hanna El Hajj (BS ’01)Jad Wajih Kawtharani (BS ’02)Nadim Georges Makdessi (BEN ’83)Fady Melhem (BEN ’94)Widad El Abed Nsouli (BA ’83)Loay Sayah (BA ’02)Rouba Abou Taam (BS ’90)Roland Tannous (BS ’88)Rassil Adnan Zeineddine (BBA ’04)MENAAmer Bibi (BBA ’72)Mazen K. Dajani (BBA ’58)Suha Eid (BA ’86)Marwan Gholmieh (BA ’69)Michel Hage (BEN ’91)Muna Fleihan Miqdadi (BA ’66)Mohammad Nabulsi (BA ’99)North AmericaAli Halawi (BS ’00)Issa Kawar (BEN ’73)Nasri S. Kawar (BS ’56)Leila A. Tarazi (MA ’72)Charles N. Zaher (BS ’80)Rest of WorldAbe Ata (BA ’72)58overseen by Intelliscan, an independent firmMainGate Fall 2010LebanonSoubhie Baassiri (FM ’81)Donald Babikian (BS ’00)Dania Dbaibo Darwish (BBA ’87)Youssef Abdul Razzak Doughan (BS ’89)Rabih Fakhreddine (BA ’06)Recent Graduate of WAAAUB AlumniCouncil (Terms of office: 2010–12)Afif Tabsh, Lebanon (BS ’09)

Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t e s1950sLeila Abou NimehFrangiehas authored or co-authoredmore than 150 publicationsincluding two textbooks inviewed professional journals.She is the author of FacultyGuide to Academic Service-(SON diploma ’59, School ofstructural engineering. TheLearning Pedagogy and wasPublic Health Nursing certifi-history and genealogy ofa founding member of thecate ’60) earned a BS in 1979his father’s village in TurkishCalifornia Department offrom Indiana State University,occupied Cyprus, The Vatili IEducation’s Service-Learningand is a 2001 graduate of theKnew, was published in 2009Advisory Committee. SheUniversity of Florida’s Masterin English and Greek. In addi-March 2010, Nammour andserves on the editorial boardGardener Program.Nowtion to five children and eightGabriela Schaub inauguratedof the Journal for Nationalretired from nursing, Frangiegrandchildren, Harris also hasRecto Verso in Beirut, whichAssociation for Alternativeis an active member of thefour stepchildren and eightis both a library, a bookshop,Certification. Karayan com-Sarasota Case Managersgrandchildren from his sec-and an archive for art appre-pleted her doctorate atAssociation. As a master gar-ond marriage.[harrishg(at)ciators, collectors, research-University of California, Santadener, she volunteers severaldrexel.edu]ers, and those who are inter-Barbara.hours a month gardening forSarasota County and hasJohn Lubbatested in Lebanese painting,sculpture, architecture,Leila Kassantini Bibihelped establish a communityphotography, and graphicgarden. [lfrangie(at)verizon.net]design. This unique space1960sHarry G. Harrisis an offshoot of the BeirutWorld Book Capital Festivalof Lebanese Art Bookswhich was held in October2009 at UNESCO Palace.[aalitatown(at)yahoo.com](BE ’60) earned his master’sSilva Karayandegree at the University of(BA ’63, MA ’66), profes-Illinois in 1970. He works forsor of education and director(BBA ’69) has lived in London,Exelon Corporation and livesof Special Education, hasEngland with her husbandin Northbrook, Illinois. Lubbatrecently become emeritaBassel since 1980. Her two(BE ’60) and his wife Helenis married to Maha Tarazifaculty at California Lutherandaughters, who work in com-attended his 50 th AUB class(BA ’68, MA ’72).TheirUniversity (CLU). She wasmunications for the music andreunion in July. Harris holdssons, Ramsey who lives infounding director of CLU’sfashion industry, are gradu-graduate degrees from MITSan Francisco, and MarkCenter for Academic Service-ates of City Business Schooland a PhD from Cornellwho lives in Chicago, bothLearning for Research andand the London School ofUniversity.He worked forgot married in summer 2009.Development and was theEconomics. In addition toGrummanAerospace[lubbat1@comcast.neet]first chair of the Centerbeing an avid painter andCorporation, conducted manyfunded research projects inCesar Nammourfor Teaching and Learningfor Faculty Development.yoga practitioner, Bibi wasrecently featured as a modelstructural engineering, and(BBA ’61), art critic and pub-Karayan’s scholarly activi-in a two-month “Silk Window”taught at Drexel University forlisher, has been producingties have included frequentcampaign for Hermès, the28 years where he is profes-books on Lebanese artistspresentations at national andFrench luxury goods housesor emeritus of civil and archi-ever since he founded Fineinternational conferences andwhere she appeared in atectural engineering.HarrisArts Publishing in 1990. Inmany publications in peer-re-series of photographs in thewww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 59

Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t e svitrines of the Hermès bou-Limited. He writes: “ICollections Department. Shetique on Sloane Street inreally appreciate all of theenjoys working with studentsLondon.MainGate issues which I findand researchers. [nk20(at)1970sJean Grant Fragavery informative and very wellpresented with nice photosand layout. Keep up theaub.edu.lb]Hayat Kai Bikhazigood work and be assuredthat your issues are beingread with much interestWood Buffalo, she workedby AUB alumni all over theas a young adult and adultworld.”[andre.debbane(at)educator for 15 years teach-videotron.ca]ing college level courses.She has managed studentHovik Nersissianservices in higher education(MA ’70) After earning her(BA ’79) writes: “Please keepinstitutions in Dubai, consult-master’s degree, Fraga taughtus always as your permanent(BS ’85) is working as a coor-ed with the Dubai Ministry ofcommunication skills at AUBstudents…whether we are indinator in AUBMC’s QualityLabor, designed professionaluntil May 1976. After leavingLebanon or abroad.” He saysManagementProgram.development programs forBeirut, she and her husband,that he can never, ever forget[hk14(at)aub.edu.lb]adults and established workBob Fraga, who taught in theMath Department, went tohis good old days within thegreat walls of AUB—a refugeSana Elacheplacement programs for collegestudents. Upon arrivingSaudi Arabia where he taughtfrom the politically charged(BA ’85, MA ’88) is a train-in Canada, Elache estab-at the University of Petroleumcivil war. Nersissian works ining facilitator, educator, andlished Sila Link, a consult-and Minerals in Dhahran andJeddah, Saudi Arabia as abusiness entrepreneur. Prioring, training, and publishingshe worked as a reporter fortraining manager in a lead-to becoming the execu-company that provides worldArab News. On their returning contracting firm full oftive director for Leadershipclass outsourcing and train-to the United States, Fragaworked in college relationsfor Ripon College where BobLebanese and AUBites. Hehas also worked in freelancemedia for almost 15 years.Nadia Jaroush deMassudthe hard work of heavy farmchores, but war politicstaught math.In May she[onerissian(at)hotmail.com]intervened.What shouldpublished The Burning Veil,a story of love and collidingcultures, loosely based on1980sNadine Knesevitchhave been a great bondingexperience instead separatedstudents into differenther experience living in Saudiniches in Jordan and theArabia and Beirut. The AUBBeqa’a.I remember thecampus also appears in thenights at the Bustani dormsnovel, which is available onwhere we had to sleep withAmazon.[jjeanflies(at)sbc-our blood type written onglobal.net]our wrists ‘just in case.’ OurAndré Debbané(BS ’85) writes: “AREC classof 1985 was supposed todean, Thomas Southerland,was kidnapped, and our(BA ’75) works as a mana-give us students a hands-graduation ceremony dayger and translator for(BA ’80) is assistant to theon experience in agriculturalwas postponed until just lastGeneral Motors Acceptancelibrarian at Jafet Library,applications while buildingsummer (2010) because ofCorporation of Canada,Archives and Specialstudent solidarity throughthe chaos of the summer of60 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t e sing services to help businessessucceed. Elache1990sTarek Ammarenjoys learning with adultsthrough facilitating workshops,retreats, and conferences.She loves makinga positive difference in hercommunity and paints in herfree time. She is married tojoined Schlumberger seismicogy at New York University inAnas Jamal (BS ’85). Theirservices where he workedNew York and his clinical andteenage son Luay Eljamal isfor many years in oil andresearch epilepsy fellowshipa published author. [sana(at)(BBA ’90, MBA ’93) is agas exploration. Jeha hasat Johns Hopkins Universityeljamal.com]regional director for Araheld a number of managerialin Baltimore. He then joinedDavid-Imad RamadanResearch and Consultancy inLebanon (www.ararac.com)positions in Schlumberger’sWesternGeco Division, wherethe faculty of Case WesternReserve University in(former student, 1987-[t_ammar(at)ararac.com]he is currently the KuwaitCleveland, Ohio. Koubeissi89), Virginia Governor BobMcDonnell has appointedZiad Jehacountry manager. [zJeha(at)slb.com]has lectured widely on themedical and surgical treat-Ramadan to the GeorgeMason University Board of(BS ’90) After earning hisdegree in geology and com-Samer Harbment of intractable epilepsyand published papers inVisitors in Fairfax, Virginia.pleting some postgraduateprestigious medical journals.[davidramadan(at)usa.net]courses at AUB, Jeha joinedHe is currently editing a bookDar Al-Handasah (Shair andon epilepsy surgery. He isPartners) for six months wherealso a reviewer for a numberhe worked as a geophysicsof major journals, is on thesupervisor in Yemen. He thenreview committee for master’sand PhD students, and’85…Our class scatteredand worked as a liaisonis the program director of theall over the world, each ofbetween the center and theepilepsy fellowship programus carrying so many sadschool. I continued my edu-(BS ’95, MS ’97) and hisat University Hospitals Casememories. But despite all ofcation with a professionalwife Mona Osta are happyMedical Center in Cleveland,this, AUB remained a mostlandscaping diploma fromto announce the birth ofOhio. Koubeissi is marriedimportant refuge where wethe Instituto Argentino detheir second child, Farah,to Maha Haddad; they havehad wonderful experiencesPaisajismo (IAP), although Ion June 7, 2010. In Maytwo boys. [Koubeissi(at)at a time when Lebanonhave never had the oppor-2009, Harb and his familygmail.com]was falling apart and nothingseemed to make any sense.tunity to practice my newcareer. For the past tenmoved to Kuwait where hejoined Gloria Jean’s CoffeesRaghda Mogharbil al Zein(Sadly, history repeats itself.)years, I have worked at theFranchise, Aqar International(BA ’95) earned a master’sWhen I left for Argentina IKuwait Embassy. I want toCo. as a business develop-in journalism and mass com-had another type of strug-thank MainGate again forment manager. [mrsam66(at)munications from Iowa Stategle, the immigrant strug-reminding me of the honorhotmail.com]University in 1998. She is angle, trying to fit in. In the1990s, I took charge of theI have in belonging to sucha great community as AUB,Mohamad Koubeissiinstructor at The AmericanUniversity of Science andlanguage programs at themy ‘Home Sweet Home’!”(BS ’95, MD ’99) completedTechnology,Ashrafiyeh,school of the Islamic Center,[jaroushn(at)hotmail.com]his clinical training in neurol-where she teaches journal-www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 61

Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t e sism and public relations.Al Zein also freelances formagazines and newspapers.The daughter of UsamaMugharbil (BS ’63, MS ’65),Al Zein has two daughters.[rmugharb(at)hotmail.com]Rola ChbakloSupport and DevelopmentDivision. Chbaklo completedher university studies atAUB earning a BA in politicalstudies and a master’s inpopulation studies. In 2001,she moved to Abu Dhabiwhere she worked for threeyears as a population specialist.In 2006 she receiveda master’s degree from theUniversity of Turin (Italy) inmanagement of development.She lives in Beirut.[Rolachbaklo(at)gmail.com]Zena el Khalil(BGD ’99) presented herexhibition “Ou Ali Mama3ouKhabar… (And Ali Has NoIdea…)” based on the July2006 Israeli invasion ofLebanon and the presentcondition of Palestine atEspace Kettaneh Kunigk inBeirut June 30-August 13,and at the Galerie Tanit inMunich, Germany as part ofthe Open Art Weekend inearly September. The workincluded five large-scalemixed media paintings, a thematicseries of smaller handsownfabric collages, and amulti-media rotating sculpture.Khalil uses irony andhumor to transform images ofpropaganda and warfare into(BA ’96, MS ’00) is happyto announce the birth ofher first child, Rhea Zein,born on January 23, 2010.Chbaklo married Rami Zeinin 2009 and is currentlyworking at the Social WelfareInstitutions as director of theJasmin Masri(BS ’98, MA ’00) completeda PhD in cultural theoryand comparative literatureat Cambridge University in2004. She works in Londonas a change managementconsultant, specializing inleadership mobilization andcommunication of change.[jasmin_masri(at)hotmail.com]Far From the Madding CrowdAs one walks through the faded memories perhaps,Main Gate of AUB, one is suffused in sweet nostalgia.overwhelmed by a sense of On a more personalserenity; the striking contrast note, I myself feel a certainbetween the hustle and bustlesoul-satisfying comfortof the city, the traffic, the whenever I set foot on campushonking, the constructionas one member of fourmadness, the noise, and air generations of AUB graduates.pollution…and the calm ofThere is a certainthe campus. Indeed, AUB is kind of metaphysical calma refuge in Beirut. The sparklingthat hovers over me in theblue Mediterranean, the knowledge of my connectionlush green of nature, these to AUB, a kind of continuityare always one’s companions that somehow offsets mortality.on campus; they soothe theMy great-grandfather,nerves. The faces of alumni Asad Rahhal (MD 1883) andare always present, ambling grandfather Adib Rahhalabout campus, recalling (MD 1909) graduated when62 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingateAUB was known as theSyrian Protestant College.Then it was my father’sturn: Asad Rahhal (BA ’55,MA ’56), my uncle NabilRahhal (BA ’60, MA ’66),my uncle Salam Rahhal(BA ’72), and finally, myself,my sister Dina Rahhal(MD ’98), and my cousinsSamar (BS ’97, MD ’01) andNabila Rahhal (BA ’08).The city has metamorphosed,the streetshave changed, buildingshave gone up and comedown, shops have appearedand disappeared; indeed,almost everything has beenreplaced. There is only thatone green patch that hasremained sincere, enduring….AUB.Of course, ithas expanded, there havebeen modifications, but itsessence has abided throughoutthe decades; a constant,fixed in time, surrounded bythe mind-boggling transformationsof a city barelyrecognizable since even 20years ago, let alone well overa century. AUB, then…a seaof tranquility, “far from themadding crowd.”– Adib Rahhal (BA ’99)

Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t e scultural insight, healing, andcentration in health manage-Laila Houriharmony. “In the 2006 war,ment and policy. She cur-thousands of pink flyers [wererently lives in Beirut and isdropped] all over Beirut…Ian administrative assistantwas fascinated by the carica-at the Faculty of Agriculturalture drawings on these flyersand Food Sciences. [lb16(at)which I collected even thoughaub.edu.lb]a friend’s mother tried to convinceme that that they mightSeif El Din Abou Alyas a dietetic intern at Saintbe laced with poison. I oftenGeorges Hospital, then joinedthought about my neighbor(BS ’05, ME ’08) has workedAbela Frères Pharmaceuticalsacross the border who drewas a data analyst in AUB’sSAL as a medical repre-this flyer. Re-appropriating itRegistrar’s Office, toured thesentative, attending nutri-has been an essential healingworld—Thailand, Malaysia,tional supplement confer-process for me. The charac-Turkey, Italy, Jordan, Dubai—ences in Bangkok, Thailandters now find themselves in("the best was Thailand withand Hammamet, Tunisiaa new scenario; where love,all the yummy sushi andsponsored by Nutriciamusic, and tranquility replacefascinating temples"), andMiddle East. In 2009,violence, fear, and despair.”(BS ’05) After graduatingearned a master’s degreeKouyoumdjian rejoined AUB2000sNadim Issawith his degree in agricultureand minors in businessadministration and food sci-in engineering managementwith a concentration in financialengineering. She is cur-as a fulltime graduate studentto pursue a master’s in populationhealth in the Faculty of(BA ’00) After five years inence, Abou Aly travelled torently working as a finan-Health Sciences.She’d bejournalism with Zawya,South Africa for five monthscial officer in FAFS, whileglad to hear from friends andDow Jones and Bloombergfor further training in the agri-she pursues an MBA. [laila.former classmates. [spk01(at)News, Issa established acultural field. He currentlyhouri(at)gmail.com]aub.edu.lb] [Onersissian(at)furniture company calledAlinad (www.alinad.com),wrote a children’s book inArabic called Hide & Seekresides in Egypt and workswith his family managingsome of their farms. He isalso in charge of productZeina Kabbara(BBA ’05) After graduation,Kabbara worked as an audi-hotmail.com]Looking for old friendsand classmates!Game, translated a bookand market development attor for three years in thefrom English to Arabic onthe history of Turkish cinema,and edited an Arabic bookMagrabi Agriculture, whichis a leading global producerof horticultural fresh produceBeirut office of Deloitte. In2007, she became a certifiedpublic accountant.Mansour AlbertMansouron strategic consulting.that exports to major super-Kabbara recently moved toHe is currently enjoying lifemarkets in over 38 coun-Dubai to work for Galileoin Lebanon with his wifetries. Abou Aly is pursuingby TravelPort as a financialHabiba Fathallah (BA ’01,his on-line master’s degreereporting analyst. [kabbara_MA ’07) and their daughter.from SOAS-University ofzena(at)hotmail.com][nadim.issa(at)alinad.com]Lisa BilalLondon. He has also beenlearning Spanish and isplanning a six-month tour ofSilva Kouyoumdjian(BS ’05) currently lives in(BS ’05, MPH ’10) receivedSouth America in early 2011.Zalka, Lebanon.With her(BE ’05) is pursuing an MBAher master’s degree in public[seldin(at)hotmail.com]degree in nutrition and dietet-at the Harvard Businesshealth from AUB with a con-ics, she began her careerSchool. Previously he workedwww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 63

Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t e sTop left and right: Personal experimentation using arabic calligraphy and latin letteringCenter (top left and right): Poster created for Assabil Association; Pages from a guidebook on Hermel region [client: Mada Association]; (middle and bottom) Label design[also type design for the label] and alphabet design for a jewelry collectionThe letters of an alphabetare born from the relationbetween the mind, the hand,and the tool of expression[drawing]. Every movementof the hand generates aunique form that constituteseither one part or the entirebody of a letter [dance]. If thehand should find beauty ina rhythm of writing [music],then it will record that rhythmand repeat it until the endof time [perseverance] tuningits forms to becoming moreand more delicate followingthe rise and set of every sun[sensibility].The alphabet incorporatesconcepts of constructionand sets of proportions,invented or inspired by theenvironment [nature, mathematics]that are subject tochange or growth with thepassing of time [history].However, one element remainsquintessential in this constellation:the alphabet is the symbolof an entire civilization [culture],it is one of the only linksbetween the hearts and mindsof human beings sharing acommon geographic space, alinguistic space; for that, greatattention ought to be givento the visual aspect of analphabet [respect]—whateverlanguage it may represent—for its forms are the guardiansof knowledge [humility] and ofthe education of generations[generosity].Drawing, dance, music,nature, mathematics, history,culture; also respect,humility, perseverance, sensibility,and generosity - allmy passions and values,that very luckily for me, findthemselves grouped in themicrocosm of alphabets. Iaspire for my work to bearthese passions and valuesso that I can return to theworld what my mentors havegiven to me.– Lara Captan (GD ’06)64 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t e sin strategic and managementconsulting for BoozElie SalloumRECENTLYHONOREDTony Haddad& Company based in theAt the Ninth FEA StudentMiddle East. He currently livesConference on May 19, Deanin Boston, Massachusetts.Ibrahim Hajj presented the[mmansour(at)mbs2011.FEA Distinguished Alumnihbs.edu]Awards to six recipients:Ziad Boustany (BE ’87),Maya RizkRafic Mansour (BE ’64),Samir Moujaes (BE ’72, MS’75), Walid Najjar (BE ’79),(BBA ’05) has an MBA fromand Sami Sidawi (BE ’64).(BE ’75) After graduation,HEC International BusinessMira Kaddoura (BGD ’00)Haddad worked at the IndevcoSchool (2008) and has stud-was the recipient of the FEAGroup for eight years as aied at the Harvard BusinessDistinguished Young Alumnusmaintenance and project man-School.He is currently aaward, which was establishedager maintaining and installingproject manager for Eli Lilly’stwo years ago to recognizeequipment and conveyors thatMENA Call Center in Beirut.the exceptional achievementswere imported from the USA[eliesalloum(at)gmail.com]of FEA alumni who have grad-and Europe. His dream was(BSN ’05) lives in Khobar,Saudi Arabia where sheSandy Salloumuated within the last 15 years.Boustany was cited for histo design and build this equipmentin Lebanon. In 1982,works for the Dhahran Health(BBA ’05) holds an MBAdistinctly Lebanese contribu-he started his own companyCenter, Saudi Aramco.from the Hellenic Americantion to industrial controls andTechnica International, which[mayarizk(at)hotmail.com]University in Athens, Greece.power electronics; Mansourafter 30 years is firmly estab-Rashid SaadShe is a certified humanresources professional (PHR)and Sidawi as successful contractorsand entrepreneurs;lished in the region with astaff of 140 selling and han-and currently works as aMoujaes for his pioneeringdling large scale equipmentrecruitment consultant for Thework in energy conservationand turnkey projects through-Top Talent. [sandysalloum(at)and for promoting the profes-out the Middle East. In 2010,gmail.com]sion of engineering; Najjar forTechnica was honored with theWissam Tawfic Doudarhis contributions to computerarchitecture and compiler“Lebanese Excellence Award”awarded by the chamber of(MPH ’09)After earning aoptimization; and Kaddouracommerce and the Europeanmaster’s in health manage-for her stunning achievementsUnion under the patronagement and policy, Doudarand recognition in the com-of Lebanon’s President Michelresumed his duties with thepetitive field of advertising.Suleiman. Haddad writes, “A(BE ’05) is currently a projectUnited Nations Relief anddream come true. I wish theengineer at Dar Al-HandasahWorks Agency as a field(Shair and Partners). Helaboratory services officerearned an MBA in 2009with special duties related tofrom the Lebanese Americanhealth reforms in Lebanon.University. Saad lives in[w.doudar(at)unrwa.org]Beirut. [rashidjsaad(at)hotmail.com]www.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 65

Beyond Bliss Streetc l a s s n o t e ssame for all AUB graduates.Follow your dream and yourpassion.” [Tony.Haddad(at)technicaintl.com]Abbas El-Zein(BE ’86) has won Australia’s2010 New South Wales(NSW) Premier CommunityRelations Commission Awardfor his memoir Leave toRemain published in 2009 bythe University of QueenslandPress. El-Zein exploresissues of identity as he journeysfrom Najaf, Baghdad,and Palestine, to Europe,America, and Australia. Hisnarrative includes generationalreflections on his ancestorsfleeing Ottoman armiesduring the Napoleonic wars,the transnational world ofIslamic scholarship in whichhis grandfathers lived, theIraq war, and the post-September11 world of today.Leave to Remain is a story ofa troubled homeland, of thecosts of physical and psychologicaldislocations, andof the Arab world and itsrelationship to the west.Judges for the NSWPremier Literary Award wrotethat Leave to Remain is,“…exquisitely realised in itsnarrative playfulness, [as it] ...captures the complexities ofidentity and politics, historyand religion across time andspace.” El-Zein earned anMS in civil engineering (withdistinction) at the Universityof Southampton, UnitedKingdom, an MS in environmentalscience and technology(DEA) at the EcoleNationale des Ponts etChaussées, Université ParisXII, Ecole Nationale du GénieRural des Eaux et des Forêts,Paris, France, and a PhD incomputational mechanics atthe University of Southampton,United Kingdom.Rana El-Chemaitelly(BE ’93, ME ’08) El-Chemaitelly receivedfirst place in the MITArab Business PlanCompetition for 2009-10 forher project The Little Engineer,Lifetime Education for Kidsand Teens with Hands-OnLearning Activities. In partnershipwith Abdul LatifJameel (ALJ), the MIT ArabBusiness Plan Competitionencourages entrepreneurs inthe Arab world to start theirown companies, particularlyin the energy, engineering,healthcare, internet, software,and telecom sectors.Awarded $50,000 as start-upcapital, The Little Engineeris an after-school “edutainment”center that introduceskids and teens (ages 4-16+)to pre-engineering coursessuch as robotics, physics,electricity, electronics, andrenewable energy. It offersactivities that are unique, creative,technologically innovative,educational, and affordable.The Little Engineer alsoprovides job opportunitiesfor undergraduate studentswho work as tutors.A mother of three,El-Chemaitelly was inspired tocreate The Little Engineer toprotect her three children andfuture generations from beingover-exposed to television,the internet, and electronicand computer games andmedia. “I believe that I canat least distract my kids for afew hours a week, away fromelectronic games, by entertainingthem positively withsome educational and environmentalactivities to preparethem to meet the challengesof the future. Today they canbe students in the center, andtomorrow, as teenagers, theycan join The Little Engineeras facilitators to younger students.There’s nothing to lose,as long as I have the will, thefunds, the leadership, and theinitiative to convert a dreamto a reality. I always saytogether we are strong. Let’sgive Lebanese kids and teensthe chance to express themselvesand show their hiddentalents, and prepare them tocompete in a global world.”El-Chemaitelly was therecipient of the 1993 FEAPenrose Award. [rana(at)thelittleengineer.com]Jad Hussein Yaghi(BE ’99) won the prestigiousTiEQuest business venturecompetition, an internationalentrepreneurial prize organizedby the Canadian networkinggroup The IndusEntrepreneurs (TiE). Yaghi isthe founder and chief executiveofficer of Verold Inc., acompany that is helping tomake it easy, quick, and inexpensiveto create 3D contentfor media consumption.Yaghi, whose father, HusseinYaghi, was an associate professorin the Department ofEducation at AUB until 2006,received an MBA from theUniversity of Toronto.66 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

FRIENDS ANDCOLLEAGUESAzmi Hanna, emeritus professorof mathematics, diedin May 2010 in Los Angelesafter a long illness. A dedicatedprofessor at AUB forover 40 years, his researchinterests were in homologicalalgebra and algebraic topology.Even after his retirementin 2005, Hanna continuedto deliver public lectures onselected topics. MathematicsDepartment Chair HazarAbu-Khuzam writes, “Dr.Hanna taught many of uswhen we were students hereat AUB. We will miss himas a teacher, colleague, andfriend. On behalf of AUB’sDepartment of Mathematics,I extend our deepest sympathiesand condolences tohis family. May his soul restin peace.”Hanna is survived by hiswife Samira, and a son and adaughter.Timothy Harrison passedaway on July 21. As chairmanof the Department ofSurgery at AUBMC from1968 to 1971, Harrisontrained a significant numberof AUB’s surgical staff andwas a valued colleague. Asurgeon and endocrinologist,he received his medicaldegree from Johns HopkinsUniversity in 1953. He wasprofessor of surgery at theUniversity of Michigan MedicalSchool, Ann Arbor from 1962to 1975, and professor ofsurgery and molecular physiologyat Pennsylvania StateUniversity’s Milton S. HersheyMD Class of 1924Medical Center from 1975 to1994.Harrison is survived byhis wife of 49 years, ElizaMiddleton Cope, two daughtersand two sons-in-law,and a grand-daughter, all ofRumford, Rhode Island. Hewill be missed by the AUBcommunity.MEMORIALSDr. Fouad M. Al-Akl (MD’24) was a surgeon, scholar,author, humanitarian, poet,and collector who contributedto the fields of researchand medical literature. Hewrote several books includinghis autobiography From theFaded Album of Yesteryear(1939), Until SummerComes (1945), and SurgicalTechnigrams (1954). He wasa collector who donated anineteenth century TurkomanYomud rug to the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, New York.Al-Akl and his three brothers:Youssef (former student),Farid (BC ’28), andPhilip (BS ’29), were all AUBgraduates and co-sponsoredAUB’s Murad Al-Akl Award, acompetition for debaters onthe theme, “How I Can BestServe My Fellow Men.”Al-Akl’s niece, LoulouAl-Akl Khoury, PhD, has sentus selections from her uncle’sautobiography.Below is one of Al-Akl’spoems:More On-lineReligionIssam Jabara (BA ’61)has sent us this remembranceof his grandfather Dr.Moujalli Massoud Jabara(MD 1892):My grandfather Dr.Moujalli Massoud Jabarawas a provider of free medicalservices for all, and thiswas particularly importantto the destitute classes ofthe society in which he lived.Doctors were scarce at theGo to church and bow your head,If you please;Fold your arms and move your lips,Or bend your knees.You may fast and you may pray,Light the candle till doomsday;This is not religion.You can count the rosary beads,Yet, what counts are your good deeds;Not bribing GodBy dropping coppers in the pan:Religion is the way you treatYour fellow man.—Fouad M. Al-Aklwww.aub.edu.lb/maingate | MainGate Fall 2010 67

time, and my grandfatherwas well known as he oversawthe health care of hispeople in Jdaidet Marjeyounand in villages far and nearin north Palestine and easternSyria. He was often seenriding his horse to check onhis patients or to perform lifesavingsurgeries. He becamea household name in thefarthest reaches of Lebanonand the Arab world. Born in1869, three years after thecompletion of the Suez Canallinking the Red Sea and theMediterranean, Jabara studiedin private elementaryschools in Jdaidet Marjeyounand its vicinity, then went toAUB (known at the time asthe Syrian Protestant College)to study medicine. He graduatedas a physician with distinctionin 1892 at the ageof 23. At the time Lebanonwas under Ottoman rule andhe had to go all the way toIstanbul on horseback to gethis colloquium degree in orderto be able to practice medicine.He returned to JdaidetMarjeyoun and expandedhis practice into Egypt. Thisexpansion compelled him tobuy an automobile, a rarecommodity in 1926. DuringWorld War I, the OttomanEmpire imposed martial lawon all countries under itscontrol, including Lebanon,and compulsive military serviceforced my grandfather tobecome a physician in theOttoman army with officer’srank until he found an opportunityto escape. Apart fromtreating casualties, physicianswere needed to witnessand issue death certificatesat the executions of politicaldissidents. Jabara wantedto delay his attendance toforestall executions, but sincethis was untenable, there wasnothing for him to do butescape. After his escape, mygrandfather kept moving onhis horse from place to place,and he told many tales ofwhat happened to him duringhis incognito travels.I am proud that my family’svillage of Jdaidet Marjeyoungave Lebanon its first physiciansin the first quarter of thetwentieth century.ALUMNIRhonda J. Crane (BA ’67)passed away in May 2010after a struggle with overlappingillnesses. Crane, whoearned her master’s in sociologyfrom George WashingtonUniversity and a doctorate inpolitical science from MIT, wasa long-time senior executiveof AT&T and an internationallyrecognized and publishedexpert on transnational telecommunicationspolicy. Shewas also a founding memberof the board of directorsof the US InternationalTelecommunications UnionAssociation. As an AmericanElectronics Association fellow(1989–91), a distinctionshe earned for her work onhigh definition television, sheassisted with legislation toenhance the competitivenessof American industry. Shewas later appointed senioradvisor for science, technology,and investment affairs tothe Office of the United StatesTrade Representative (USTR).After she retired, she devotedherself to the preservationof the Watergate complex inWashington, DC, where shelived. She is survived by herbrother, Myles Crane, of Ft.Collins, Colorado.Mansour Kadi (BA ’50) Bornin 1926, Kadi passed awayin November 2009 after anaccidental fall. He worked atthe Jafet Library (1953–58)and also at the ArmenianEvangelical College as ateacher (1967–84) and as asecretary (1984–2005). In1999, he was honored witha medal by the college boardfor his long years of loyalservice. Kadi was the fatherof three children and aproud grandparent.We RememberJ. Earle Edwards, Jr.Friend of AUBAbdullah O. Adra(BBA ’29)Fakher Akil(BA ’41, MA ’42)George S. Bayoud(BA ’42, MD ’48)Ramez Said Samaha(BA ’45)Fadeel F. Salti(BA ’48)Fouad Salim Haddad(BA ’49)Afaf Rustum Shalhub(BA ’50, MA ’64)Mohammed N. Azmeh(BS ’55)Francois N. Boueiri(BE ’56)Stanley N. Khouri(General Certificate ’56)Wadad W. Schandlbauer(BA ’60)Michel E. KhourySiham Darub(BS ’70)(BA ’84)68 MainGate Fall 2010 | www.aub.edu.lb/maingate

Last GlancePhoto © AUB Photography Department / Mazen JannounIn 2010, AUB relaunched the traditional class ring ceremony for 1,300 graduates. More page 57.

Return AddressAmerican University of Beirut3 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza8th FloorNew York, NY 10017-2303Receiving multiple copies of MainGate? Save paper and let us know—we’ll send one copy to your home or business.Contact the editor: maingate@aub.edu.lbAUB Library ArchivesCollege Hall Library, 1920s–30s