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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 (Dr. Daniel Bliss) in 1866. The name was changed to the American University of Beirut on November 18, 1920. It has been fully accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education since June 25, 2004. The University has been registered with and recognized by the Department of Education of New York State since 1863. Many professional degrees are also accredited by the respective accrediting bodies in the USA, Lebanon and internationally as well. On March 21, 2008, the Board of Trustees selected Peter F. Dorman to be AUB's 15th president effective July 1, 2008. He succeeds Dr. John Waterbury who was president of AUB from 1998 to 2008. Dr. Dorman is an international scholar in the field of Egyptology and presently chairs the University of Chicago's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. At the end of July 2002, the number of degrees and diplomas awarded since June 1870 totaled 66,107.[citation needed]
[edit] History
In 1862, American missionaries in Syria, under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, asked Dr. Daniel Bliss to withdraw from evangelistic work and missions in Syria (under Ottoman rule, modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine were part of Greater Syria) to found a college of higher learning with an American educational character, self-maintained and administered independently from the Mission, that would include medical training. Bliss, like other American missionaries active in the Middle East at the time, recognized the need for a secular institution to impart notions of patriotism, republicanism, and the preservation of individual liberties. Growing numbers of graduates from the Syrian Protestant College would embrace the American paradigm of nationalism and declare themselves devotees of Arabism. The college, according to Arab historian George ANtonius, had provided the "intellectual effervescence" for an Arab revival, one that would transform the region's politics.[1] Dr. Bliss traveled to the United States in the summer of 1862 to solicit funds for this new enterprise. By August, 1864, he had raised $100,000 by soliciting contributions from a number of British and American donors, including Mrs. Franklin H. Delano, great-aunt of the thirty-second president.[1] 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 traveled 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.[2] 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:
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 an 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 its 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 the 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 after the establishment of the state of Greater Lebanon in August 1920; 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 bordering 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 only 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) in addition to the peripheral gate (near the men's residence buildings) and another small gate near the women's residence. The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences' Agricultural Research and Education Center (AREC), a 247-acre (1.00 km²) 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] Faculties and schools
[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 September 2007 (however, the war with Israel in the summer of 2006 delayed the opening of the center). 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. In 2007, AUB re-introduced PhD programs in 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. Its master's 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. By May 2007, AUB's Campaign for Excellence had already surpassed its goal of US$ 140 million by its 140th anniversary 31 December 2007. While relatively modest by US standards, a campaign of this magnitude and success sets a new standard for higher education fund raising in the middle east. In February 2008, AUB launched its YouTube Educational Channel, following in the footsteps of universities such as UC Berkeley and MIT. Visit the AUB Channel to view the numerous videos available. [edit] Violence on campus
[edit] AlumniAUB 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 Adil 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 Palestine 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] Notable Alumni
[edit] Notable Faculty
[edit] Former Students
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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