Adil A Iliya (BA ’44, MD ’48) passed away on March 12, 2022. He was 98 years old. Dr. Iliya was born in Lebanon on April 24, 1923. After earning his MD degree at AUB, he completed his surgical training at St. Paul Hospital in Dallas, Texas, and at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1959 he opened his clinic in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas and practiced medicine and surgery for 25 years.He closed his surgical practice in 1983 so that he could devote himself full-time to medical missionary work in Africa, which he did until 1990. He was an avid gardener, photographer, and an aficionado of classical music. Dr. Iliyais survived by his wife of 72 years, Dolores; his four children, including son Sam Iliya and wife Joyce, daughter Rosemary Iliya Obeid and husband Kamal, son Dr. John Iliya and wife Dr. Jean Stachon, and son Dr. Charles Iliya and wife Rebecca; 11 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Najwa Shaheen Haffar, NaSH, (BA English Literature ’51), passed away on August 24, 2022. The daughter of Nikula Jirjis Shahin (BA 1918, MA 1920), professor of physics at AUB from 1939 to 1962, Najwa grew up among the close-knit AUB community. Frequent visits to concerts in Assembly Hall and plays in West Hall nurtured her love for theater, literature, choir, and the campus itself. It was at AUB that she met the love of her life, Kamal Rifaat Haffar (BA ’51), whom she would marry in 1954. As editor-in-chief and writer for Al-Kulliyah, she worked with Jacob Thadeus (MD ’50) and a dedicated committee and staff to produce the alumni magazine on a shoestring budget for many years. This was her second collaboration with Thadeus, with whom she had worked on Outlook. NaSH, the pen name she used, is survived by her three children, Rifat, Omar, and Dana, all of whom are AUB alumni; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Adnan George Iskandar (BA Political Studies ’51, MA Public Administration ’52) passed away on April 25, 2022. Professor Iskandar was born in Kfarhata, Al-Koura, in the north of Lebanon in 1930. After earning his BA and MA degrees at AUB, he attended the American University in Washington, DC, where he earned a PhD. He returned to his alma mater as an instructor in public administration in 1957 and held numerous positions, including director of personnel (1961–62), assistant professor of public administration (1962–69), associate professor of public administration (1968–81), professor of political studies and public administration (1982–90 and 1993–98), and vice president for university relations (1990–1993). Ibrahim Khoury, special advisor to the president for protocol and external relations at the American University of Beirut, remembers him as “a tireless fighter for administrative reform . . . who championed transparency in public affairs and believed that fighting corruption in the administration can only come after the eradication of political corruption.”
Nicola Khuri (BA Economics and Statistics ’52) passed away on August 4, 2022. He was the longest-serving trustee in the history of the American University of Beirut and had a profound impact on his alma mater. He played a key role in the establishment of AUB’s Center for Advanced Mathematical Sciences (CAMS) in 1999.
Khuri worked especially closely in support of AUB with Board of Trustees chair emeritus Dr. Richard Debs, who lauded his long-time friend as “a great scientist, a great academician, a great teacher, a great innovator, and a pillar of strength for the American University of Beirut through good times and bad, over many decades. His imprint on the university will survive for many more decades ahead.”
Born in Beirut on May 27, 1933, Khuri was a brilliant student, graduating from AUB at the age of 19. After completing his undergraduate degree, he moved to the United States to attend Princeton University, where he earned his MA (1955) and PhD (1957) degrees. He returned to AUB in 1957 as an assistant professor of physics. In 1964, he accepted a position at the Rockefeller University in New York, where he remained for the rest of his career.
Khuri was a renowned scholar who was celebrated for his work as head of Rockefeller University’s Laboratory of Theoretical Physics. A fellow of the American Physical Society, a visiting scientist at CERN, and a consultant to the Brookhaven National Laboratory, he was elected a trustee of the American University of Beirut in 1969. In 2009, he was awarded the University Medal, AUB’s highest honor.
In a message to the AUB community on August 9, 2022, Philip S. Khoury, chair of the AUB Board of Trustees, wrote, “Khuri’s financial and mathematical acumen was instrumental in helping AUB avoid bankruptcy during the Civil War. As chair of the BOT Academic Affairs Committee in the years following the end of the war, Khuri’s academic rigor and determination helped ensure AUB became once more the leading research university in the Middle East by recruiting topflight faculty.” Khuri is predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth Tyson Khuri, MD, and his brother Raja. N. Khuri (BS ’55, MD ’59), former dean of the AUB Faculty of Medicine. He is survived by his sister Selwa Najib (BA ’59); his brother Antoine Najib (former AUB student); his daughter, Suzanne Odette Khuri, and her husband, Vijay Seshadri; his son, Nicholas Andreas, and his wife, Claire; his grandchildren, Nicholas, Grace, and Gloria; and ten nieces and nephews, including AUB president Fadlo R. Khuri.
Professor Makhlouf J. Haddadin (BS Chemistry ’57, MS Chemistry ’59) passed away on September 21, 2022. In a message he sent to the AUB community, President Fadlo R. Khuri lauded Haddadin as a “pioneer in the field of organic chemistry, an icon at the American University of Beirut, and a beloved friend and mentor to so many.”
Haddadin was born in Ma’in, Jordan, on March 21, 1935, and attended high school at the Hussein College
in Amman. He was awarded a full scholarship from the Jordanian Ministry of Education to study chemistry at AUB, where he discovered “all [he] had hoped for in a university—outstanding faculty, a beautiful campus, and friends for life.” Haddadin blazed a path to university and graduate education for many members of his family, including all four of his younger siblings. After completing his master’s degree at AUB, Haddadin moved to the US, where he earned a PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder, before doing postdoctoral research at Harvard University. He returned to AUB in 1965.
During his 57 years at his alma mater, Haddadin held many senior administrative positions, including vice president for academic affairs (1987–99) and acting president on three occasions. He also earned a global reputation and many accolades for his achievements in heterocyclic chemistry, which resulted in the publication of more than 125 scholarly papers in prestigious international journals. He was elected to the Lebanese Academy of Sciences in 2009.
Haddadin was especially celebrated for his groundbreaking research with AUB professor Constantine Issidorides. Their collaboration led to their co-discovery of the Beirut Reaction in 1965, which greatly impacted the field of pharmaceutical chemistry and yielded 40 patents in numerous countries. In 2005, Haddadin and Distinguished Professor Mark J. Kurth of the University of California at Davis discovered the “Davis-Beirut Reaction.” In 2018, Haddadin was appointed the inaugural Bonnie and Constantine Issidorides Chair in Organic Chemistry at AUB. He continued to be an active researcher and member of the faculty until his retirement in spring 2022.
On October 6, 2022, following the announcement of the award in July, Khuri presented Haddadin’s family with the University Medal “in recognition of distinguished and meritorious service to the university.” Haddadin’s legacy will forever live on at AUB and in the lives of the students, colleagues, and friends that he touched during his extraordinary life.
Family, friends, and former colleagues are joining together to honor his memory by supporting the Makhlouf Haddadin Endowed Awards and Lectureships, established in 2011. Proceeds support the Makhlouf Haddadin Awards, which are presented to distinguished graduating chemistry undergraduate and graduate students at commencement and the annual Makhlouf Haddadin Lectureship/Symposium.
Yeghia G. Babikian (BA Education ’54, MA Education ’57) passed away on November 9, 2021, in Pasadena, California. He was a scholar, educator, administrator, prolific writer, and a mentor to generations of students. He carried a posture of rare integrity, humility, and objectivity. The multiple awards, recognitions, and accolades that he received from community leaders and city and state officials were not important to him. His main goal in life was to honor and please God. Dr. Babikian was a visionary who established churches, founded colleges for Armenian communities, and encouraged people to use their God-given gifts. His selfless love for his wife, Margo (RN ’60); his two boys, Ariel (Kohar) and Hovel (Meline); and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren was immeasurable. He will be deeply missed.
Nadim Haddad, MPH (BA ’50 MD ’54) passed away on October 29, 2022. He was born on December 31, 1929, in Ramleh, Palestine. Throughout his global career in public health, he stayed in close touch with his alma mater, conducting research and supporting master of public health (MPH) students. In 2020, he established the Dr. Nadim Adib Haddad MPH Academic Achievement Award, which is granted each year in recognition of excellence in academic performance in the MPH program. Haddad held academic appointments at AUB, the University of Texas School of Public Health, and Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. He is survived by his loving wife, Mona Saba Haddad; his four sons, Issam (and Linda), Haitham, Layth (and Emily), and Juwayn (and September); and 12 grandchildren. He was, remembers the family, “both an anchor and compass” and “will be remembered for his unconditional love, deep loyalty, strong sense of duty, steady patience, and sharp wit.”
Isam Nazmi Anabtawi (MD ’56) passed away in Port Arthur, Texas, on May 29, 2022, at the age of 91. After receiving his MD from AUB, Dr. Isam did his residency in general surgery at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming board certified in that field. He then did another residency in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the University of Georgia Medical Hospital in Augusta, Georgia, and became board certified in that specialty as well. He was later appointed assistant professor of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the University of Georgia Medical School, where he spent several years. He then went into private practice in Port Arthur, Texas, where he performed the first open-heart surgery in the city. He was also a frequent contributor to scholarly journals. Isam is survived by three siblings, Dr. Aida Anabtawi (BA ’50), Dr. Samir Anabtawi, and Najwa Anabtawi (MA ’60); three children, Rima, Karim, and Nadia; and many grandchildren. He will be deeply missed.
Adib Tawfik Saad (BS Agriculture ’57, MS Crop Production ’59), former dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, passed away on September 25, 2022. He was born on February 13, 1934, in Keyfoun, Lebanon. Dr. Saad was a longtime member of the AUB faculty. After receiving his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1964, he returned to AUB as an assistant professor of plant pathology. He was promoted to associate professor in 1971 and to full professor in 1979. In 1990, he was appointed dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, a position he held until 1994. He retired in 2017. Professor Adib was a longtime member of numerous professional societies, including the American Phytopathological Society, the Arab Society for Plant Protection (ASPP), the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO), the International Society of Plant Pathology (ISPP), and the Union of Arab Biologists. He is survived by his son, Rani (BEN ’93), and his two daughters, Dalia (BS Biology ’93, MD ’97) and Layal (BBA ’02). He will be remembered, with great admiration and respect, by his many friends, colleagues, and students.
Suhayl Shukri Saleh (MD ’61) passed away on March 14, 2022. He was born in Jaffa, Palestine, on January 20, 1937. He had a distinguished career as a leading cardiovascular surgeon and as a prominent educator at the Royal Medical Services in Amman (1968–83), where he headed the Heart Center. He later moved on to help two other hospitals in setting up their units for cardiovascular surgery. In 1996, he participated in laying the foundations for the Jordan Hospital and served on its medical team from 1996–2020. Dr. Suhayl was also a visiting professor at the American University of Beirut (1980–82), chief of staff at the Queen Alia Heart Institute in Amman (1981–83), and a clinical professor at the Jordan University School of Medicine. Throughout his career, he worked to develop and train residents in cardiac, thoracic, and vascular surgery. His good friend and long-time colleague, Dr. Jarir Halazun (MD ’67), remembers him as “a pioneer in cardiothoracic surgery.” He will be remembered most for his humanity and unrelenting dedication to his patients and as someone who pushed the boundaries of care. He is survived by his wife, Umayma; his three children, Shukry, Omar, and Tamara; and his two sisters, Lena and Diana Saleh.
George Tomey (BEN ’62) passed away on November 23, 2022. He was a mentor and treasured colleague to generations during his more than 40-year career at his alma mater. Tomey will always be especially remembered for his extraordinary contributions to the university during the Lebanese Civil War. In a message he sent to the AUB community, President Fadlo R. Khuri wrote about those days when Tomey worked “around the clock within the Crisis Response Team that he formed, through shortages of food, fuel, water, and electricity.” Tomey will also be remembered for his unwavering concern for people, including and especially AUB retirees. It was that concern that inspired a group of his colleagues to establish the George Tomey HIP Retirees Fund in his honor when he retired from AUB in 2006. Proceeds from this fund have been used to pay the health insurance premiums for more than 2,000 retirees enabling them to continue to receive medical care at the AUB Medical Center. Tomey began his career at AUB in 1964 when he joined the Department of Physiology as a research assistant. From there he moved to administration, first at the Faculty of Medicine, where he was assistant dean for administration for four years (1984-88), and then at the university when he was appointed vice president for administration in 1987, a position he held until he retired. He will be deeply missed by his family, including his wife Katia, his daughters Zeina and Lara, his granddaughter Oriana, and by the thousands of colleagues and students whose lives he touched.
Theodore Christidis (BS Physics ’67, MS Physics ’70, PhD Physics ’74) passed away on November 27, 2022. A proud AUB alumnus, he joined the AUB faculty in fall 1977 after completing post-doctoral research at the Clarendon Laboratory at Oxford University (1974-76) and then at Saint Louis University (1976-77). He was promoted to associate professor in 1986. He served on several faculty and university committees and was assistant to the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for laboratory affairs from 2004 to 2022. Professor Christidis was a steadfast experimental scientist who was pivotal in establishing the Kamal A. Shair Central Research Science Lab and developing Department of Physics laboratories; he inspired generations of students in the advanced lab courses he taught. In his message to the AUB community, Dr. Jihad Touma, chair of
the Department of Physics wrote, “Prof. Christidis served physics, the craft, and its department, then natural sciences at large, during the critical war years and beyond. He did so under extreme circumstances and with unfailing dedication, drawing on his remarkable acumen as an experimentalist, administrative wisdom, and invariable insistence on scientific rationality which he carried through till his last days as he fought a difficult battle with a forbidding illness.” Mamdouha El-Sayed Bobst Faculty of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean Saouma BouJaoude remembered Professor Christidis as a “committed, friendly, and generous teacher, mentor, and advisor who served AUB for the past 46 years.” He is survived by his wife, Anbar Nashashibi; his son, Omar; and his daughters, Nadia and Nour.
Helena Victoria “Vicki” Freeman (BA English ’67) was born in Houma, Louisiana, on October 27, 1944. She passed in Florida on October 26, 2021, just one day shy of her 77th birthday. Vicki led a life filled with adventure, travel, study, work, love, and long-lasting friendships. On a trip after her high school graduation to visit her beloved Aunt Helen, who worked at the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Vicki made friends with an American student who was going to study at AUB. She went herself to Beirut in September 1963, earning her BA in English in 1967. She was married briefly to Phaedon Antonopoulous (BA ’67). In 1969, she and her future husband, Roland Richardson, a teaching fellow at the International College in Beirut, headed for Helsinki, where they were hosted by Tim Andrews, her first English literature professor at AUB. After a year, she and Roland returned to his homeland, the Caribbean island of St. Martin French West Indies. After five years on the island, Vicki headed for New York and taught English as a second language for two years before returning to the south, where she earned her master’s degree in French from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1979. Her next stop was Paris, where she taught for a year at a French lycée on an educational exchange program before returning to the US to settle in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where, aside from two years on a sailboat in the Bahamas, she remained, establishing a career in banking and real estate. She leaves behind a brother, two nephews, and a host of devoted friends. All will miss her southern charm.
Lina Maalouf Saad (BA Psychology ’72, MA Psychology ’76) passed away on March 11, 2022, at the age of 70. She was the faithful wife of Ghassan Saad; the loving mother of Fouad, Tarek, and Lily; and a treasured grandmother to Michael and Marc Bejjani and Charles, Paul, and Julien Saad. She is also survived by her brother Ramzi. Lina comes from a proud extended family of AUB alumni including grandparents, parents, siblings, uncles, and aunts. Although Lina excelled in her studies and was top of her class throughout her education, she dedicated her life to the care of her family and would later volunteer her time in healthcare and education. She will be fondly remembered for her kindness, humility, and touchingly endearing smile. She was a beautiful and truly compassionate soul who was loved by everyone.
Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn (BA English ’75, MA Anthropology ’78, PhD History ’82) passed away on June 23, 2022. Dr. Abu-Husayn was born in Nuba, Palestine, in 1951. He attended secondary school in Amman, Jordan, before moving to Lebanon to attend the American University of Beirut. After earning his PhD, he joined the faculty as a beloved and respected scholar who taught generations of students about the history of Lebanon, Arab history under the Ottomans, Ottoman history, and the history of Lebanon through the novel. As a doctoral student and throughout his career, Dr. Abu-Husayn worked especially closely with the late professor Kamal Salibi, his mentor and good friend. He was inducted as an honorary member of the Turkish Historical Society in 2013. Dr. Abu-Husayn is remembered by Saouma BouJaoude, the Mamdouha El-Sayed Bobst Faculty of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean, as “a gentle, kind, generous soul and a colossal scholar whose dedication and love of AUB helped preserve its legacy through both the bad and the good days.” President Fadlo R. Khuri lauded him as “an esteemed, humble, meticulous, and kind scholar” who “made an enormous difference in so many people’s lives.” He is survived by his son, Tarek Abou Hussein (BA Political Studies ’08), an assistant professor in AUB’s Department of History.
Anthony N. G. Wakim (MD ’78) passed away on August 23, 2022. He had a long and successful career as a physician in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Wakim was one of the original double-board-certified physicians, in OB-GYN and reproductive endocrinology and infertility, in the US. He lived life to the fullest, loving every moment. Many people looked up to him as a unique and inspiring role model. He was always available to help someone in need. He especially loved to travel and spend time with his family. He was devoted to his wife of nearly 40 years, Lena, and his daughter, Kamy, whom he adored. A lifelong learner, Dr. Wakim had a tremendous knowledge of history, geography, and world affairs, and he never tired of learning. He is survived by his loving wife, Lena Rebeiz; his daughter, Kathryn-Mary Wakim-Takaki; and his son-in-law, Nicholas Wakim-Takaki.
Fawzi Al-Hajj passed away on December 3, 2022. He was the longest serving dean of students in AUB history. In a message he sent to the AUB community, President Fadlo R. Khuri remembered Dr. Al-Hajj as “one of our university’s pillars and a symbol of its resilience during the Lebanese Civil War.” Dr. Al-Hajj was born in Anout, in the Chouf area, where he lived until he traveled to the US to pursue his education. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a PhD in agricultural sciences in 1967, he returned to Lebanon where he joined AUB as anassistant professor of extension education in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences. He was appointed professor with tenure in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Sociology in 1971. He is especially remembered as a dean of students, a position he held from 1981 until 1999. “The safety and well-being of our students were his overarching concern, and he ensured their protection with probity and wisdom,” said Khuri. He is also remembered for his great sense of humor. Dr. Al-Hajj is survived by his wife, Yvonne, and his children, Sana, Mandana, Rania, Nadine, and Walid.
The American University of Beirut mourns the passing of its longtime trustee Charles William Carson Jr., known as Bill. Born on February 13, 1929, and raised in Rochester, New York, Carson passed away on June 15, 2022. A childhood passion for maps, travel, and history books grew into a life full of adventure and purpose. Carson spent his senior year of high school as a scholarship student at an English “public” school in England before entering Princeton University (AB ’52), where he started as a civil engineering major and finished as a history major with a focus on European and Middle Eastern history. Following his military service, Carson entered the private sector as an international financial analyst at what was then Chemical Bank, later subsumed by JPMorgan Chase. After 1988, Carson focused on service in the nonprofit sector, serving as a trustee and financial advisor at the American University of Beirut, the New York Historical Society, the National YMCA Fund, Americans for Oxford, and Drew University. He is predeceased by his beloved wife, Miriam Jackson Carson, and survived by his sister, Mary Kahl; his sons, Tom (and Robin) and Phil; his nephew, Frederick Kahl; his niece, Sarah Kahl; three grandchildren, Henry (and Maggie), Nonie, and Thomas; and two great-granddaughters, Ellie and Anna.
Eugene J. Gangarosa passed away on August 11, 2022, at the age of 96. The founding dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences (1978–81), Gangarosa will be especially well remembered as a leader in the field of communicable diseases and infectious disease epidemiology and as a passionate and tireless champion for safe water, proper sanitation, and the prevention of water-borne diseases, especially cholera. Together with his wife, Rose, and their sons, Ray, Eugene Jr., and Paul, he established the Gangarosa Family Endowed Chair for Safe Water and Sanitation at the American University of Beirut in 2020, which Gangarosa described at the time
as “a step forward to making our global village a better place.” Gangarosa spent his 70-year career at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, AUB, and Emory University. He was a prolific author and received many accolades, including the Centers for Disease Control’s Medal of Excellence, its highest honor, for “advancing the knowledge of the epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, treatment, and control of enteric diseases”; Emory University’s highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award; the University of Rochester’s Humanitarian Award; the American Public Health Association’s Distinguished Lectureship; and the Wade Hampton Frost Award. He will be deeply missed by his family and by everyone who knew him.
Robert Laurence Miller (Bob), junior year abroad (JYA) student from Kenyon College (1967–68) and assistant professor of the Civilization Sequence Program (1980–85), died unexpectedly at his home in Columbia, Missouri, on October 23, 2022. He was 74 years old. After leaving AUB during the civil war, he took a Fulbright fellowship in Jordan and Iraq, then moved to England and continued his wide-ranging archaeological research with increasing interest in ancient Egypt and medical history, leading to publications on such topics as archery in the ancient world and the evidence for malaria in Egyptian mummies. On returning to the US in 1989, he worked as a contract archaeologist and independent scholar in Long Island and Ohio. He retired with his wife, Janie Rees-Miller (JYA 1968–69, MA ’75), to the Rees farm in Missouri in 2018.
Professor Robert Saliba passed away on October 6, 2022. News of his passing came as a shock to his many colleagues and friends at the American University of Beirut, where he was a professor of architecture, urban design, and planning. Saliba grew up in Beirut and attended the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA), earning a bachelor of architecture degree in 1974. He went on to earn a master of urban planning from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1980), and a PhD in urban and architecture history from the University of Paris VIII (2004). Saliba joined the AUB faculty in 1985 during the Lebanese Civil War and played an important role in keeping the department going during an especially challenging time. He was the author of many book chapters and journal articles, and he wrote four books: Beirut 1920–1940: Domestic Architecture between Tradition and Modernity (1998), Beirut City Center Recovery: The Foch-Allenby and Etoile Conservation Area (2004), Beyrouth Architectures: Aux sources de la modernité 1920–1940 (2009), and Urban Design in the Arab World: Reconceptualizing Boundaries (2015). Howayda Al-Harithy, chair of the AUB Department of Architecture and Design, says that Saliba will be “deeply missed but will live on through his valuable scholarship and significant impact on the AUB community and its many generations of students.”
Kenneth Sauer passed away on November 6, 2022. Although he was a member of the AUB faculty for just three years (1957–60), “his relationship with the AUB community of friends, colleagues, and students transformed his life,” remembers his son, Peter. Professor Sauer also had a profound and lasting impact at AUB. He stayed in touch with his AUB colleagues and students long after he and his family left Lebanon and was an external advisor to the Department of Chemistry for many years. He and his wife, Marjorie, also made many donations to the university, most recently to support the AUB Community Vaccination Drive in 2021. Professor Sauer left AUB in 1960 for the UC Berkeley College of Chemistry, where he spent his career, retiring in 2001. Throughout his life, he embodied the spirit of service and the highest academic and moral standards. He will be deeply missed by his wife, Marjorie; his four sons, Bob, Terry, Rodney, and Peter; and their families.