In Memoriam

Leila Shaheen da Cruz (BA Biology ’47), passed away on November 4, 2023. She was the daughter of Nikula Jirjis Shahin, physics professor at AUB (1939–62), and Hanneh Khoury and the sister of Najwa (BA ’51) and Mona (BA ’59) Shaheen. While editor of Al-Kulliyah, she met her husband, Daniel da Cruz Jr. (d. 1991). As managing director of Illustrated Publications, she translated DC Comics into Arabic, including Lulu and Tabboush, Superman, Spiderman, and Batman, distributing them throughout the Middle East. She later started her own publishing company, INTAG. Leila held leadership positions on the World YWCA Executive Committee and as national president of the Lebanon YWCA. A lifelong supporter of AUB, Leila served on the Alumni Club Executive Committee and as a Women’s Auxiliary volunteer at the Bargain Box until the age of 90. Leila is survived by her children, Lina Lenore and Daniel Nicholas, and four grandchildren.

Malak Nahas Dagher (BA Education ’56, MA Education ’73) passed away on January 27, 2024. She was born in Saida, Lebanon, on March 27, 1929. She is survived by her devoted husband, Dr. Fuad Joseph Dagher (BA ’54, MD ’58); their children, Joe, Azar, and William; six grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. Malak was an educator who dedicated her life to the pursuit of knowledge and was passionate about imparting it to others. While her husband, Fuad, was serving as chief of staff at AUBMC in the 1990s, she volunteered helping the librarian at the Saab Medical Library. She traveled extensively with her husband, studying the cultures and making friends the world over. An early pioneer of women’s rights and a tireless champion for social justice causes, Malak left an indelible mark on her community. Her legacy will live on in the hearts of her family, friends, and all those whose lives she touched.

Abdallah G. Dahir (BS Agricultural Engineering ’57) passed away on December 19, 2023, at the age of 91. He was born in Kaftoun, Al Koura, Lebanon, on September 22, 1932. Abdallah, who attended Bishmizzine High School, earned a PhD in applied mechanics at Michigan State University in 1964. He had a long and successful career at IBM and was a pioneer in the technology and telecommunication field. He retired as vice president of engineering at MCI. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Dahir; his four children, George, Alida, Samira, and Tarik; his six grandchildren, Scout, Piper, Beckett, Jackson, Nicholas, and Olivia; and his sister, Sana Karam.

Chairman Emeritus Richard A. Debs passed away on January 28, 2024. He was a towering figure at the American University of Beirut, a university that he served as trustee (since 1976) and later as board chairman (1994–2005). He was recognized for his singular contributions to the university, receiving both the University Medal and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2005.

Dr. Debs had an extraordinary career as a lawyer, public servant, government adviser, philanthropist, and published scholar. He was founding president of Morgan Stanley International and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He had longstanding involvement in Morgan Stanley, Saudi Arabia, and the Malaysia Fund. Additionally, he served for many years on the board of Mizuho Securities, USA and Mizuho Corporate Bank, USA. Over the years, he worked with IBJ Whitehall Bank, Aubrey G. Lanston & Co., and Gulf International Bank, London, and as an adviser to the Industrial Bank of Japan, Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Nissho Iwai Corporation, and Bank Julius Baer.

As a philanthropist, Dr. Debs dedicated himself to board service and support for many wide-ranging organizations. He was an ardent supporter of the Bretton Woods Committee, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, ABANA, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (founded by Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim), the New-York Historical Society, and many more organizations.

A true music lover, he was also the longest tenured trustee and served as chair of Carnegie Hall, which named the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair in 1999 “in recognition of his generosity and commitment to ensuring a bright future for music.”

Dr. Debs graduated summa cum laude with a BA from Colgate University (1952), a PhD from Princeton University (1963), and an LLB from Harvard University (1958). He was also a Fulbright Scholar in Egypt. He later returned to Egypt on a joint fellowship from Princeton and Harvard to conduct research that led to the publication of his book Islamic Law and Civil Code: The Law of Property in Egypt, published by Columbia University Press, which remains in print to this day.

President Fadlo R. Khuri wrote in the February 29, 2024, President’s Perspective, “When the modern history of the university is written, Dick Debs, who drove AUB back from its shell shocked, postwar status into an internationally recognized and admired university, will certainly take his place among the very greatest board chairs of AUB’s 158 years and among the most influential since its founding.”

Dr. Debs is survived by his wife, Dr. Barbara Knowles Debs; his two children, Elizabeth Anderson Debs and Nicholas Abraham Richard Debs; and his two granddaughters, Isabel Sophia Turner-Debs and Zoe Justine Turner-Debs.

Wadih Jureidini (Bill Jordan) (BS Agriculture ’57), passed away on February 14, 2024. Wadih grew up in Majdalouna and attended the Gerard Institute in Sidon before enrolling at AUB. After earning his BS degree, he worked briefly in Kuwait and then joined American Cyanamid to manage the Middle East business. When the Lebanese Civil War broke out, Wadih and his family moved to Athens, where they lived for 18 years. They then moved to New Jersey where Wadih continued to work with American Cyanamid until his retirement. Wadih was a philanthropist who also gave generously of his time and his wisdom. He will be deeply missed by his wife, Trudy; his three children, Christina, Steven, and Patrick and their wives, Kim and Olga; his five grandchildren, Alison, Christopher, Naya, Alexander, and Zachary; and his sister, Isabel—as well as by generations of AUB alumni and friends in North America and around the world.

John G. Shiber (BS Agriculture ’58, MS Biology ’61) passed away on September 21, 2023. He was born in Jerusalem on January 11, 1937, as the youngest of seven children. His family fled Palestine during the Nakba, a pain they carried with them for the rest of their lives. Although John taught briefly at AUB, he spent most of his life and career in the US where he earned a PhD in biology and science education at Purdue University (1973) and was a professor of biology at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System-Big Sandy (eastern Kentucky) District for more than 25 years. John was an environmental advocate and researcher who published widely and used his fertile imagination to inspire generations of students. He and his wife, Elaine, had two children: Linda-Dalal and Tony-Saba. His family is brokenhearted by his death, but so, so proud to have been a part of his life.

Arpine Konyalian Grenier (BS Chemistry ’65, MS Parasitology ’67), an Armenian-American poet, musician, and scientist, passed away on January 9, 2024. Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, Arpine’s parents were genocide orphans, respectful of the power of education, music, and religion. She spent her academic and corporate years devoting herself to cardiovascular research, human resources development, regulatory finance, and the arts. She wrote whenever and wherever she could. Her writing was global and cosmic, human rather than ethnic, and appeared in numerous publications, including the Columbia Poetry Review, The Iowa Review, Sulfur, Kiosk, Ararat Quarterly, Chiron Review, and The Bardian.

Helen Wadsworth Mugrditchian (MS Food Technology ’71) passed away in New York on September 11, 2023, at the age of 101. She had a lifelong calling to adventure and learning. She also had a great love for the Middle East, particularly for Lebanon. Helen was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1922. She attended Utah State University, where she studied home economics and nutrition. In 1945, after completing an internship in dietetics at New York Hospital, she sailed on the transatlantic liner, the MS Gripsholm, to the Middle East to work at AUB. In 1951, Helen married Dr. Papken S. Mugrditchian, a prominent thoracic surgeon, and together they raised six daughters. Helen became director of the AUBMC Dietary Department in 1976 and established the first dietetics internship program in the Middle East in 1983. After retiring in 1987, she joined her daughters in the United States, where she spent the next 36 years. She never lost her devotion to Lebanon and the AUB community.

Dr. Robert M. Haddad, the twelfth president of the American University of Beirut (1993–96), passed away on March 8, 2024, in Orono, Maine. He led AUB during an especially challenging time, immediately following the Lebanese Civil War, and helped to lay the foundations for the university’s recovery. In a message to the AUB community, President Fadlo R. Khuri remembered Dr. Haddad as “a strong advocate for what many believe to be the pillars of democracy: the importance of liberal education, freedom of expression, and tolerance of difference.”

Dr. Haddad was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 1, 1930, the son of the late Nadra and Hadbo (Trabulsi) Haddad. He grew up in Brooklyn and attended PS 127 and Brooklyn Technical High School. He went on to earn a BS in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh (1952), an MA in Near Eastern studies from the University of Michigan (1954), and a PhD in history and Middle Eastern studies from Harvard University (1965). He traveled extensively and conducted research in Europe and the Middle East as a Fulbright Scholar and a Ford Foundation Fellow and on grants from Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

Dr. Haddad came to AUB from Smith College, where he spent most of his career and was a professor of history and religion for 30 years (1963–93). He retired as the Sophia Smith Professor Emeritus of History and Professor Emeritus of Religion and Biblical Literature in 1993. He was the author of numerous publications, including Syrian Christians in a Muslim Society: An Interpretation (Princeton University Press, 1970).

He was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Helen (Rogerson) Haddad, and by his son, George. He is survived by his three daughters, Emily Haddad (John Erikson) of Orono, Maine; Leila Borowsky (Mark) of Needham, Massachusetts; and Josette Haddad (Roderick Ventura) of Rio Rancho, New Mexico; and by his eight grandchildren, Milo, Sonja, Molly Ventura, Philip (Rose), Robert (August), Theo Erikson, Jonathan, and Daniel Borowsky. He also leaves his sister and brother-in-law, Josette and John Generale, and many dear relatives and friends.

Elliott Nassim Saidi (BBA ’76) was born in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, on July 5, 1951, to a Lebanese father, Alhaji Ibrahim Saidi, and a Nigerian mother, Hajja Fatime Lawan Abdallah. He left Nigeria with his father when he was only four years old to settle in Lebanon, where he was raised by his half brother, Kamel Saidi, and Kamel’s wife, Aliya Khalil Saidi. After graduating from AUB, he returned to Nigeria, where he worked in a variety of jobs before saving enough money to set up a guesthouse in Lagos. Throughout the many years he lived in Nigeria, Elliott stayed in touch with Lebanon and visited the country often—always with a suitcase full of presents. He was a “favorite uncle” for his many great-nieces and great-nephews and quick to support any member of the family in Lebanon—or Nigeria—who needed help. He passed away in Nigeria on December 19, 2022, after a six-year struggle with cancer.

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Wadih Jordan Jureidini (BS Agriculture ’57) passed away on February 14, 2024. A longtime advocate for his alma mater and a mentor and good friend to generations of AUB students and alumni, Wadih was a pillar of the alumni community in North America, always looking for ways to help, never looking for public recognition. (One of his favorite quotes was “When the choice is between results and the limelight, I always opt for the first.”) Wadih was also a generous supporter of AUB, where he established the Jamileh Dagher Jureidini Scholarship in 1993 in honor of his mother. To commemorate his life and legacy at the university he loved, his family has established the Wadih Jordan Jureidini Scholarship.