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American University of Beirut

Coordinates: 33°53′59.87″N 35°28′56.22″E / 33.8999639°N 35.4822833°E / 33.8999639; 35.4822833
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This article is about the American University of Beirut. For other uses, such as the Asia Universal Bank, see AUB (disambiguation).

33°53′59.87″N 35°28′56.22″E / 33.8999639°N 35.4822833°E / 33.8999639; 35.4822833

American University of Beirut
الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت
File:American University of Beirut logo.svg
MottoThat they may have life and have it more abundantly.
TypePrivate
Established1866
PresidentPeter Fitzgerald Dorman
ProvostAhmad Dallal
Academic staff
653 full-time instructional faculty.[1]
Students8,005
Undergraduates6,431
Location
Beirut
,
Lebanon
CampusUrban, 61-acre (250,000 m2); and AREC (Agricultural Research and Education Center), a 247-acre (1.00 km2) research farm and educational facility in the Beqa'a Valley
Websitewww.aub.edu.lb

The American University of Beirut (AUB; Arabic: الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866.[2] The name was changed to the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1920.

The university is ranked among the top 300 universities in the world.[3]

The University is governed by a private, autonomous Board of Trustees and offers programs leading to the bachelor’s, master’s, MD, and PhD degrees. The current president is Peter Dorman.

Although AUB’s student body is primarily Lebanese, almost one-fifth of its students attended secondary school or university outside of Lebanon before coming to AUB. The language of instruction is English.

History

At the Main Gate

In 1862 American missionaries in Lebanon and Syria, under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, asked Daniel Bliss to establish a college of higher learning that would include medical training. On April 24, 1863, while Dr. Daniel Bliss was raising money for the new college in the United States and England, the State of New York granted a charter for the Syrian Protestant College. The college, which was renamed the American University of Beirut in 1920, opened with a class of 16 students on December 3, 1866. Dr. Bliss served as its first president, from 1866 until 1902.

AUB alumni have had a broad and significant impact on the region and the world for many years. For example, 19 AUB alumni were delegates to the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945 — more than any other university in the world. AUB graduates continue to serve in leadership positions as presidents of their countries, prime ministers, members of parliament, ambassadors, governors of central banks, presidents and deans of colleges and universities, businesspeople, engineers, doctors, teachers, and nurses. They work in governments, the private sector, and in nongovernmental organizations.

On March 21, 2008, the Board of Trustees selected Peter Dorman to be AUB's 15th president. He succeeded John Waterbury who was president of AUB from 1998 to 2008. Dorman is an international scholar in the field of Egyptology and formerly chaired the University of Chicago's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

As of June 2011, the total number of degrees and diplomas awarded totaled 82,032.

Campus

Part of the upper campus as seen from Penrose dormitory

The 61-acre (250,000 m2) AUB campus is on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea on one side and bordering Bliss Street on the other.

Faculties and schools

  • Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences (FAFS)
  • Faculty of Arts & Sciences (FAS)
  • Faculty of Engineering & Architecture (FEA): Architecture, Computer & Communications Engineering, Electical & Computer Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Graphic Design
  • Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS)
  • Faculty of Medicine (FM), including the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing (HSON)
  • Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (OSB)

Research

In 2007, AUB reintroduced PhD programs and now offers six doctoral programs: Arab and Middle Eastern History, Arabic Language and Literature, Cell and Molecular Biology, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Theoretical Physics.

College Hall

Medical Center

The AUB Medical Center (AUBMC) is the private, not-for-profit teaching center of the Faculty of Medicine. AUBMC, which is accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCIA) on hospital accreditation, includes a 420-bed hospital and offers comprehensive tertiary/quaternary medical care and referral services in a wide range of specialties and medical, nursing and paramedical training programs at undergraduate and post-graduate level. Since 1905, AUB’s medical services have included a nursing school. In 2008, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) invited AUB’s Rafic Hariri School of Nursing to become a full member, making it the first member of the AACN outside the United States. The American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program awarded AUBMC its prestigious Magnet designation on June 23, 2009. AUBMC is the first healthcare institution in the Middle East and the third in the world outside the United States to receive this award.

University Museum

The Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut is the third oldest museum in the Near East with displays covering all periods of history. The museum also carries out archaeological research projects.

Libraries

The AUB library system includes two main divisions:

University libraries

The university libraries include the Nami Jafet Memorial Library, the Engineering and Architecture Library and the Science and Agriculture Library. The Agricultural Research and Education Center (AREC) in the Beqa'a Valley also includes an annex to the Science and Agriculture Library.[4]

Saab Medical Library

The Saab Medical Library (SML) serves the AUB Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing, in addition to the entire AUB campus. It is ranked as a large size medical library.[5]

Although many library resources are accessible remotely from on and off campus, the libraries themselves are equipped with e-classrooms, computer labs, and wireless connectivity. Trained and experienced library staff conduct classes and workshops throughout the year to introduce and train users to take advantage of the libraries’ collections, information resources, and innovative technologies.

Fundraising

Looking northwest across the campus towards the Mediterranean Sea.

In October 2002, AUB launched a five-year $150 million fund raising campaign called the Campaign for Excellence to celebrate its 140th anniversary in 2006–07. The University raised more than $171 million during the campaign, which ended in December 2007, to upgrade its facilities, strengthen academic programs, enhance faculty recruitment, and increase its financial aid budget.

Accreditation

Degrees awarded by the American University of Beirut are officially registered with the Ministry of Higher Education in Lebanon and with the Board of Education in the State of New York. AUB was granted institutional accreditation in June 2004 by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The University’s accreditation was most recently reaffirmed in June 2009.

In September 2006, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) acted to accredit the University’s Graduate Public Health Program in the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS). The AUB Graduate Public Health Program is the first CEPH accredited public health program outside the North American continent.

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accredited AUB’s Rafic Hariri School of Nursing for five years beginning October 13, 2007.

In April 2009, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) granted the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (OSB) initial accreditation. AACSB is the leading international accrediting agency for undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting. Less than five percent of business schools worldwide have earned AACSB International accreditation.[6] AUB's Olayan School of Business is the first business school in Lebanon and the second in the region to receive such accreditation.

The Faculty of Engineering and Architecture received accreditation from the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) in July 2010, becoming the first university in Lebanon to receive such an accreditation. The accredited programs include the undergraduate BE degrees in civil engineering, computer and communications engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering.[7] The most important donor of FEA was Mohamad Nasser-Eddine (Major donation on the 2nd of June 2009)

The reconstructed College Hall at AUB

Notable alumni

Nineteen former AUB students were delegates to the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945.[8] The most famous among them was Charles Malik, a Lebanese philosopher, diplomat and president of the United Nations General Assembly from 1958 to 1959.[9]

Selected list of alumni and former students

Afghanistan

  • Yousef Pashtun (Minister of Urban Development, Former Governor of Kandahar Province)
  • Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (Former Minister of Finance, Presidential Candidate in 2009 Afghan Presidential Elections)

Bahrain

Egypt

  • Sahar Sallab - A leading businesswoman - former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.

Iran

Iraq

Jordan

Lebanon

Kuwait

Palestine

Saudi Arabia

Sudan

Syria

USA

See also

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References

  1. ^ AUB.edu.lb
  2. ^ * "Rev. H.H. Jessup Dead,". New York Times. 1910-04-29.
  3. ^ [1]. Retrieved on 2011-09-21.
  4. ^ Home - Academics - Libraries. AUB. Retrieved on 2010-11-04.
  5. ^ Welcome to Saab Medical Library. Smlweb.aub.edu.lb (2010-04-19). Retrieved on 2010-11-04.
  6. ^ OSB joins ranks of 5 percent of business schools in the world with AACSB accreditation, AUB News Highlights (Official Press Release)
  7. ^ Undergraduate engineering degree programs receive internationally-recognized ABET accreditation, AUB News Highlights (Official Press Release)
  8. ^ News from ICTP 98 - Features - CAMS. Ictp.trieste.it (1999-01-15). Retrieved on 2010-11-04.
  9. ^ Glendon, M.A., 1999. Foundations of Human Rights: The Unfinished Business. American Journal of Jurisprudence, 44, pp. 1-14

External links

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