American University of Beirut
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American University of Beirut |
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| Motto | That they may have life and have it more abundantly. |
| Established | 1866 |
| Type | Private |
| President | John Waterbury |
| Provost | Peter Heath |
| Staff | 586 |
| Students | 7,289 (2005-06) |
| Undergraduates | 5,778 |
| Postgraduates | 1,511 |
| Location |  Beirut, Lebanon |
| Campus | Urban, 73 acre |
| Website | www.aub.edu.lb |
The American University of Beirut (AUB; Arabic: الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, independent, non-sectarian university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries (namely Dr. Daniel Bliss) in 1866. The name was changed to American University of Beirut on November 18, 1920.
The current President of the university is Dr. John Waterbury. Its Provost is Dr. Peter Heath.
At the end of July 2002, the number of degrees and diplomas awarded since June 1870 totaled 66,107.[citation needed]
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[edit] History
In 1862, American missionaries in Lebanon and Syria, under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, asked Dr. Daniel Bliss to withdraw from the evangelistic work of the mission in Lebanon to found a college of higher learning that would include medical training with an American educational character, administered independently from the Mission, and self-maintained. Dr. Bliss travelled to the United States in the summer of 1862 to solicit funds for this new enterprise. By August 1864 he had raised $100,000. However, because of inflation during the Civil War, he raised a sterling fund in England to start the operations of the college, leaving the dollar fund to appreciate. After collecting 4,000 in England, he travelled to Beirut in March 1866.
On April 24, 1863, while Dr. Bliss was raising money for the new school, the State of New York granted a charter under the name of the Syrian Protestant College. The college opened with its first class of 16 students on December 3, 1866.
The cornerstone of College Hall, the first building on the present campus in Ras Beirut, was laid on December 7, 1871, by the Honorable William E. Dodge, Sr., then Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. At this ceremony President Daniel Bliss expressed the guiding principle of the college in these words:
This college is for all conditions and classes of men without regard to color, nationality, race or religion. A man, white, black, or yellow, Christian, Jew, Muslim or heathen, may enter and enjoy all the advantages of this institution for three, four or eight years; and go out believing in one God, in many gods, or in no God. But it will be impossible for anyone to continue with us long without knowing what we believe to be the truth and our reasons for that belief.
College Hall and the first medical building were completed and put to use in 1873, and the bell in the tower of College Hall pealed for the first time in March, 1874. However, College Hall was extensively damaged by a savage explosion in the early morning of November 8, 1991, and the building had to be demolished. It was later rebuilt, and the new College Hall was inaugurated in the spring of 1999.
Since the earliest years, the University has continually expanded and developed new faculties and programs. In 1867, the University started the School of Medicine. Four years later, in 1871, both school of pharmacy and a preparatory school were added. The latter became independent in 1960 and is currently known as International College. In 1900, the University established a school of commerce which was later incorporated into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. When the hospital (currently the American University Hospital) opened in 1905, a school of nursing was also established. In 1910, the University opened a school of dentistry, which operated for thirty years. In the early years of the 1950s several program expansions took place. The Faculty of Engineering and Architecture was established in 1951; the Faculty of Agriculture, now the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, opened its doors in 1952; and, finally, the School of Public Health, now the Faculty of Health Sciences, was started in 1954.
On November 18, 1920, the Board of Regents of the State University of New York changed the name of the institution from the Syrian Protestant College to the American University of Beirut; other charter amendments expanded the functions of the University. All presidents of the University have been in residence at Marquand House, which was completed in 1879.
At the end of July 2002, the number of degrees and diplomas awarded since June 1870 totaled 66,107.
[edit] Campus
The 73-acre AUB campus is on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea on one side, and borders Bliss Street on the other. Bliss Street has many restaurants and is popular among university students. Since AUB's campus is a closed campus, it is possible to enter the university through gates, namely Main Gate (facing Bliss Street), Medical Gate (near the American University Hospital), and Sea Gate (at the foot of the hill).
The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences' Agricultural Research and Education Center (AREC), a 247-acre research farm and educational facility, is located in the Beqaa Valley.
Famous Landmarks on campus include College Hall, West Hall, the Oval, Nicely Hall, Assembly Hall (church) and the Green Field.
[edit] Development
In 2003, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal donated US$ 5.5 million to set up the Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR). The center holds lectures and workshops on American issues and offers, as of September 2004, a minor in American Studies.
In 2002, former US Diplomat and AUB Alumnus Charles Hostler donated US$ 11.7 million to build the Charles W. Hostler Student Center, a state-of-the-art sports facility. It is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by January 2007.
Also under construction is the new home of the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business on the lower campus of the university. It is slated for completion in 2007.
The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs which was made possible by a US$ 5.2 million donation from Issam Fares, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon, will be built on middle campus replacing the Gulbenkian Infirmary. The building was designed by AUB alumnus and world renowned architect Zaha Hadid.
AUB is planning to relaunch its PhD programs in Arabic, Middle Eastern Studies, Biology, and Chemistry for the first time since they were suspended during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). Its masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies which is offered by the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES) is considered one of the best in the world.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education accorded AUB accreditation on June 25, 2004 after an extensive institutional self-study. It was also the first time that the Middle States Commission conducted a peer team visit to an institution by video conferencing.
AUB plans to raise, by means of the Campaign for Excellence, US$ 140 million by its 140th anniversary in the 2006-07 academic year. It has already crossed the US$ 100 million mark (2004). This money will be used to update the university's facilities, improve its research, and provide much needed financial assistance to its students.
[edit] Tragic events
- On June 19, 1982, "[t]he president of the American University in Beirut, David S. Dodge [was] kidnapped. Foreign special services is believed to be behind this abduction and that of most of the other 30 Westerners seized over the next 10 years."[1]
- Dr. Malcolm Kerr, the ninth president and father of Steve Kerr, was assassinated on January 18, 1984.
- On November 11, 1991, AUB's main administration building, College Hall, was the target of a bomb that demolished it, and toppled its famous clock tower, which, for a century and a quarter, had been the symbol of the institution. It was rebuilt and re-inaugurated in 1999.
- Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (Raymond Ghosn) and the Dean of Student Affairs ( Robert Najemy) were assassinated on February 17 1976 by an irate engineering student who failed to graduate. The former at the Faculty doorsteps the latter on upper campus. The Engineering building now carries the name of Dean Ghosn.
[edit] Alumni
AUB graduates are known worldwide, and many alumni have attained high position in almost every field: Government, Science, Economics, Business, Medicine. AUB graduates are part of the Lebanese political scene: Former Prime minister Saeb Salam and former Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Adel Osseiran, who were leaders in the independence movement after the french mandate, were AUB graduates. Other famous politicians include Prime Ministers Selim al-Hoss, Najib Mikati, and Fouad Siniora, in addition to an endless list of ministers and members of parliament. AUB also boasts being the breeding ground for Arab thinkers such as Constantin Zurayk, and Antun Saadeh, the founder of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. Other famous politicians include Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, former minister in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Abdul-Rahman Shahbandar, the anti-French nationalist of the 1920s and 1930s, along with former president Nazim al-Kudsi and prime minister Faris al-Khuri, who was also an instructor at AUB.
The Syrian poet Omar Abu Risheh is an AUB graduate, and so is the novelist Ghada al-Samman. When the UN was founded in 1945, the Lebanese and Syrian delegations were made up of former AUB students. In fact, with 19 alumni among the delegates for the founding of the United Nations, AUB was the most represented university in the world in that meeting.[1]
Famous students:
- Emile Bustani, Businessman, Entrepreneur, Politician, Philanthropist
- Ghassan Tueni, Journalist, Politician, Ambassador, Editor of the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar
- Zalmay Khalilzad, American Diplomat,US Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq
- Nazim Al-Kudsi, Former President of Syria
- Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian Legislator
- Afif Ayyub, Ambassador
- Charles Malik, Philosopher, Diplomat, Lebanese Ambassador to the US and the United Nations, contributed in drafting the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Basil Fuleihan, Economist, Minister of Economy and Trade who died due to his burns following the Hariri assassination
- Kamal Salibi, Lebanese Historian, AUB Emeritus Professor of History
- Leila Fawaz, Director of the Fares Center of Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University, Professor of History and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
- Riad Salameh, Banque du Liban Governor, 'Best Central Bank Governor in the World, 2006'
- George Habash, Palestinian activist
- Zaha Hadid, Architect
- Mahmoud Hessaby, Scientist
- Selim Al-Hoss, Economist, Former Prime Minister of Lebanon
- Hrayr K. Shahinian, world-renowned Skull Base Surgeon & Director of Skull Base Institute in Los Angeles, California U.S.A.
- Charles Hostler, Ambassador
- Abdul-Rahman Shahbandar, Anti-French nationalist
- Walid Jumblatt, Progressive Socialist Party Leader
- Costantine Zurayk, Historian, former AUB Professor and President
- Philip S. Khoury, Associate Provost and Ford International Professor of History MIT
- Said Khoury, Co-founder of Consolidated Contractors Company
- Widad Kawar, Internationally renowned collector of Jordanian and Palestinian ethnic and cultural arts
- Najib Mikati, Engineer, Former Prime Minister of Lebanon
- Nabil W. Nassar, Nassar Engineering (Former Senior Partner and No.2 of Dar Al-Handasah Consultants)
- Adel Osseiran, Parliamentary Speaker
- Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith
- Elias Saba, Cabinet Minister
- Faris al-Khury, Prime Minister of Syria
- Hasib Sabbagh, Co-founder of Consolidated Contractors Company
- Saeb Salam, former Prime Minister of Lebanon
- Mounir Aoun, Famous story teller
- Lea Rustom, Founder of the Alba tayeb charity organization
- Richard Dahdah, Natixis Bank
- Serene Husseini Shahid, Palestinian writer
- Ghada Al-Samman, Syrian novelist
- Kamal Shair, Founder and Senior partner of Dar Al-Handasah
- Randa Bassem Serhan, Sociologist
- Ja'afar Touqan, Architect
- Simone Kosremelli, Architect
- Mohamad El Zein, Mechanical Engineer
- Samir Geagea, Leader of the Lebanese Forces
[edit] References
- ^ Ini, Gilead. "Timeline of Hezbollah Violence." On Campus Fall 2006: 13-14
[edit] External links
- American University of Beirut
- AUB Medical Center
- Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy
- Center for American Studies and Research
- AUB Accreditation
- AUBTeachers.info
- Faculties
