Current Issue – Spring 2023

Letters

Views from Campus

Views from Campus

  From the President - Spring 2023 After eight years as president of the American University of Beirut, I see more than ever how AUB can contribute to the development of a sustainable economy in our host nation, Lebanon, where we have deep and permanent roots. As...

Features

Analyzing Arabic Dialects for Peace

Analyzing Arabic Dialects for Peace

Analyzing Arabic Dialects for Peace Spring 2023Martin Waehlisch and Daanish Masood Alavi were interested in how to make sense of political conversations in Arabic on social media as part of their work for the Innovation Cell of the United Nations Department of...

Face to Face: Building an active community

Face to Face: Building an active community

Face to Face: Building an active community Spring 2023Discipline, character, and perseverance. These are some of the foundational tenets that have guided Tarek Abou Omar, newly appointed director of the Charles Hostler Student Center, throughout his life.“ I developed...

An Ode to Nicely 500

An Ode to Nicely 500

An Ode to Nicely 500 Spring 2023Still the same anxiety. Who hasn’t experienced it? One can bet all AUB students have been initiated in that cavernous chamber. Some thirty years ago, I waited many times on its stairs, heart racing, sweating, gazing at other students’...

Digitizing Our History

Digitizing Our History

Digitizing Our History Spring 2023Above: A Qur'an section produced in Konya, Anatolia dated A.H. 845 / A.D. 1441. Manuscript Collection, Archives and Special Collections Department, AUB Libraries Among the many artifacts from the newly digitized personal archive of...

The Power of Hope

The Power of Hope

The Power of Hope Spring 2023“I am very grateful to God because I prayed for one baby, and He gave me two, ” Mohammad Eid declared as his baby girls were being cared for at the NICU at AUBMC. After giving birth to conjoined twins, his wife, Mireille, is ecstatic to be...

Design Rooted in Heritage

Design Rooted in Heritage

Design Rooted in Heritage Spring 2023Architects are often called upon to make a mark, to showcase their artistic muscle by bending and shaping the environment. But for Carl Gerges (BArch ’11), scarring the land in such a way is antithetical to his work. “My mission is...

Welcome to the Hub

Welcome to the Hub

Welcome to the Hub Spring 2023Rudina Antoun (BArch ’09) used to be fascinated by designing buildings. Now project manager of AUB’s Abdulla al Ghurair Hub for Digital Teaching and Learning, she focuses on designing processes. “We are creating online learning...

Aiducation

Aiducation

Aiducation - Samer Karimeh Spring 2023Samer Karimeh grew up in a middle-class family in Tripoli. His father, who retired recently, was a medical laboratory doctor who provided well for his wife and three sons. Like many families in Lebanon, however, Samer’s family has...

Check Up: Beyond Braces

Check Up: Beyond Braces

Check Up: Beyond Braces Spring 2023Joseph G. Ghafari, DMD, Professor and Founding Chairperson at the Department of Dentofacial Medicine What does the Dentofacial Department at AUBMC do? The Dentofacial Department was originally a specialty orthodontics department...

The Struggle Against Early Marriage

The Struggle Against Early Marriage

The Struggle Against Early Marriage Spring 2023Photo above courtesy of Amenah Portrait Exhibit in Van Dyck Hall, 3rd floor Inspiring portraits of Syrian refugee girls who participated in the Amenah Project. The civil war in Syria has devastated the country and created...

Medicus Revived

Medicus Revived

Medicus Revived Spring 2023Jaafar Hadi (BS ’20) may have too much to do like all third-year medical students, but that hasn’t stopped him from mulling over life’s biggest questions. “I am fascinated by the great Russian writers and their lasting impact on subsequent...

Published & Produced

Published & Produced

Published and Produced Spring 2023 Le Barrage Film Screenplay by Ali Cherri (BFA Graphic Design’ 00), Geoffroy Grison, in collaboration with Bertrand Bonello Set in Sudan, near the Merowe dam, Maher works in a traditional brickyard fed by the waters of the Nile. Every...

The Silent Rise of HIV in the Middle East

The Silent Rise of HIV in the Middle East

The Silent Rise of HIV in the Middle East Fall 2023The state of HIV today is far better than it was during the epidemic’s early decades. Death rates and new infections have significantly declined, and some researchers believe a vaccine against the virus is feasible....

Alumni & Friends

WAAAUB Events and Announcements

WAAAUB Events and Announcements

    WAAAUB Events and Announcements Recently Elected Chapter Presidents    Boushra Yaghi Rahal, Health Sciences Chapter President President: Boushra Yaghi Rahal (BS Biology ’98, TD ’99, MPH ’01, EMBA ’15) Vice President: Maysaa Chaouki Jaafar (BS Medical...

In Memoriam

In Memoriam

    In Memoriam Nasrat Fadda (BS ’45), PhD, passed away on August 5, 2022. He was born in Akka, Palestine. After graduating from AUB, he worked and studied in Jerusalem for two years until receiving a full scholarship in England. Following the occupation of...

Class Notes

Class Notes

  Class Notes Souhail Chamieh (BBA ’43, MBA ’46), recipient of the first MBA awarded by AUB, writes, “I began my career at the Trans Arabian Pipeline Co (Tapline) in 1944 and, after a series of advancements, was appointed Tapline’s top representative in Lebanon,...