American University of Beirut

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AUB ranks in top 50 universities worldwide for employability

The American University of Beirut is among the top 50 universities worldwide for producing the most employable graduates, according to 2019 rankings released by education researcher Quacquarelli Symonds.

AUB was ranked 45 in the list of top 50 universities around the world for employability.

The top five universities include:

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  • Stanford University
  • University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
  • Harvard University
  • The University of Sydney

The new ranking marks the third year in a row AUB is listed above every accredited university in the Arab region.

READ HERE: Full analysis of AUB’s employability ranking.

“AUB’s continued dominance in the QS ranking of graduate employability is evidence of AUB’s success in achieving its mission of producing outstanding graduates,” said Lokman Meho, director of AUB University Libraries.

Fadlo Khuri is president of the American University of Beirut. He assumed office in September 2015 and was officially inaugurated on January 25, 2016. (File photo)
Fadlo Khuri is president of the American University of Beirut. He assumed office in September 2015 and was officially inaugurated on January 25, 2016. (File photo)

RELATED: AUB sets world record for Lebanese flag made of 60,000 notebooks!

AUB was ranked 41 in 2018, and 81-90 in 2017.

No other Arab university ranked in the top 50. The King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals ranked 251-300, and the American University in Dubai and American University of Sharjah ranked 301-500.

The research measures the proportion of graduates in full-time or part-time employment within 12 months of graduation.

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 News

Fire extinguished at American University of Beirut Medical Center

A fire at the American University of Beirut Medical Center was extinguished Tuesday, and operations returned to normal, officials announced.

In a statement, AUBMC said the blaze started on the second floor of the building, and was quickly contained.

“The fire occurred in the fiber scrubber outside the walls of the building,” the statement said. “Smoke was discharged directly into the open air.”

A fire was extinguished Tuesday at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. (Lebanese National News Agency)
A fire was extinguished Tuesday at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. (Lebanese National News Agency)

Administration officials said the AUBMC Plant Eningeering Team and Emergency Response Team were “very responsive in taking the necessary action to extinguish the fire promptly and secure the location.”

Operations were not interrupted, and hospital staff returned to business as usual, AUBMC officials added.

AUBMC is a 420-bed hospital and academic center that provides comprehensive medical care for patients in Lebanon.

The medical center is located on Cairo Street in Beirut’s Hamra area.

The center expanded in 1970 with a state-of-the-art medical center in Beirut. The building has an elaborate outpatient facility, an emergency department, research laboratories, classrooms and offices for academic staff, according to its website.

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 Lifestyle

Sleepless in Beirut: Study shows 40% of the city sleeps less than six hours

A sleep expert at the American University of Beirut Medical Center estimates that nearly 40 percent of the 2 million people living in Beirut sleep less than six hours every night.

While this is common in other Arab countries, associate professor Hassan Chami says this could be more common in Beirut than any other place in the region.

“I have good evidence based on my surveys that about 40 percent of Beirutis sleep less than six hours, which is a shocking number,” Chami said.

RELATED: Lebanon: ‘Best party place,’ says guy who visited every country

Chami believes these numbers are problematic and can lead to sleep deficiency. He believes the sleep deficiency among Beirut residents is approximately one third higher than the rate in the United States.

Lebanon has one of the most active nightlife activities in the region (POSH Club Beirut)
Lebanon has one of the most active nightlife activities in the region (POSH Club Beirut)

Sleep specialist and researcher Neil Stanley said the number of people who are short on sleep is high, and it’s a problem.

“In the past, people would have taken a siesta (Nap) in the Gulf, which allowed them to stay up at night,” Stanley said. “But that doesn’t happen anymore… People are still living like that but are missing out on the afternoon nap.”

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 Lifestyle

AUB sets world record for Lebanese flag made of 60,000 notebooks!

The American University of Beirut set a Guinness World Record for the largest notebook mosaic of any flag in the world.

The project included 60,000 notebooks placed on the Green Field of the university campus in Beirut. The notebooks created a mosaic of the flag of Lebanon.

WATCH: Time-lapse video shows the record-setting flag: 

In a news release, AUB said the ‘Share the Flag’ project was created to raise awareness about the quality and accessibility of public schools in Lebanon.

lebanese flag record 1

All notebooks used in creating the mosaic were donated to Lebanese public schools, the release added.

In a unveiling ceremony, Samer Khallouf from the Guinness World Records, said AUB set the record on their first attempt.

aub guinness world record lebanese flag

The last red notebook was placed by the son of Lebanese Army member Colonel Dany Harb, who was killed in 2014 during clashes in Arsal.

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 News

American University of Beirut bans smoking on campus

The American University of Beirut officially banned smoking on all campus grounds, effective Jan. 1, after several months of experimentation with a tobacco-free policy.

AUB President Fadlo Khuri announced a task force in March 2017 to explore the possibility of instituting a campus-wide ban. The campus first launched designated smoking areas before slowly creating a full ban.

Khuri said he met with officials from the World Health Organization and set an ambitious goal to transition the university into a smoke-free campus in a short time.

“I undertook to make AUB completely tobacco-free within 24 months,” Khuri said in 2017. “With a packed agenda of programs in the meantime, we have kept this tight timeline in view and last month I sent out instructions to form a Taskforce for a Tobacco-Free Campus.”

The first phase designated smoking areas and banned tobacco in certain buildings and locations on campus, Khuri said.

The second phase designated smoking in peripheral designated areas, and the third phase banned smoking on all AUB properties.

According to the university, students, staff and faculty caught using tobacco on AUB property will receive smoking cessation resources. However, a persistent breach of the policy would result in disciplinary action in accordance with the university code of conduct.

The work of the taskforce is to bring an end to this accommodating approach to tobacco use, to expand it to all forms of tobacco, smokeless and the water pipe included,” Khuri said. “(It is also) to transform the university space into one that supports the choice of not smoking.”

aub plan

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 News

AUB professor denied entry into U.S. because of “extreme vetting”

An engineering professor at the American University of Beirut says he was wrongfully denied entry into the U.S. because of new “extreme vetting” measures.

George Saad, 35, an associate professor at the Beirut campus, was traveling to the U.S. for the Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference in San Diego.

He says the Department of Homeland Security turned him away at Los Angeles International Airport without explanation, and he missed his conference as a result.

According to The New York Post, Homeland Security officials detained him and interrogated him for four hours. He says his phone was confiscated, his laptop was seized and officials photographed him and took fingerprints.

security-lax-airport-george-saad

“I belong to the American University of Beirut — the leading academic institution in Lebanon and the Middle East, chartered in New York and considered an American territory in Lebanon,” Saad told The Post. “I felt so small, so unappreciated and consider being treated in demeaning and humiliating ways.”

Saad says his visa was revoked and he was sent back to Beirut without an opportunity to contact an attorney or his family.

According to The Post, Saad has traveled to the U.S. about 15 times without any issue. In 2015 and 2015, he attended similar engineering conferences in California.

Saad graduated from John Hopkins University, and holds his doctorate from the University of Southern California. He says his family is Christian, and he has no criminal record.

The alleged incident happened amid President Trump’s push to enhance screening measures at American points of entry. Although the courts have blocked the president’s travel ban, his administration has been pushing for stepped up questioning of visa applicants and more intense vetting.

Saad says he already filed a complaint with Homeland Security’s Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, but he still lost about $2,500 in travel costs.

george-saad-american-university-of-beirut

Officials at the American University of Beirut say they stand by their professor.

“While we understand and respect security measures, we are surprised and concerned at the treatment our faculty member received, including his long interrogation followed by denial of his entry into the US,” the university said in a statement to The Post.

Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to requests for comment.

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 News

U.S. university revokes job offer to anti-Israeli professor; AUB hires him

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The American University of Beirut has hired a professor whose anti-Israel Twitter posts led the University of Illinois to revoke a job offer last year.

Steven Salaita was offered a position as professor of American Indian Studies by the University of Illinois for fall 2014, but university officials rescinded the offer after citing a series of controversial tweets about Israel.

American University of Beirut spokeswoman Maha Al-Azar said Salaita was hired on Wednesday as the Edward Said Chair in American Studies.

Al-Azar added that Salaita was given a one-year appointment and will start Sept. 2.

Salaita, who is of Palestinian and Jordanian descent, said he was “thrilled” to accept the position. He said he learned that “Zionists get violently mad if a critic of Israel can earn a living.”

Meanwhile, Salaita continues his legal battle against the University of Illinois for allegedly hiding meeting minutes and email correspondence of university staff who were involved in withdrawing his employment offer.

He is suing the university for allegedly breaching contract and intentional emotional distress. He’s also claiming they violated his constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and due process.

A Illinois judge recently ordered the university to turn over thousands of pages of emails under the Freedom of Information Act.

In response to the university’s actions last year, a group of over 40 Jewish faculty and students at the university signed a letter to the board of trustees saying, “Your decision to fire Professor Salaita is in fact what threatens us as Jews.”

The faculty said they were “in solidarity” with Salaita and added that there was a “growing number of Jewish perspectives that oppose Israeli military occupation…and the assault on Palestine.”

The university did not return our calls for comment. Media reports say the controversy allegedly escalated when university donors protested Salaita’s hiring.

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 News

AUB gets $2M humanities grant from Mellon Foundation

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The American University of Beirut (AUB) has received a grant of $2 million from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the establishment of a Center for Arts and Humanities.

The grant is the largest Mellon Foundation commitment to the University to date.

Over the next five years, the grant will fund 15 faculty fellowships and 10 postdoctoral fellowships in addition to writers and artists in-residence, high-profile public arts events, regional collaboration with scholars and universities, and other program activities and exchanges.

“Given the radical transformations underway in the region, the humanistic role of AUB is more critical than ever,” said AUB Provost Ahmad Dallal, the champion of this initiative.

“This new center will provide an alternative Middle Eastern site for the production of humanistic knowledge rooted in local and regional cultures.”

Officials at the Mellon Foundation said the grant would further establish “East-West cultural dialogues” and liberal arts education programs.

“As one of the leaders of liberal education in the region, AUB is well positioned to advance creativity and to promote freedom of expression, tolerance, diversity, and dialogue,” said Eugene Tobin, a senior program officer at the Mellon Foundation.

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 News, Success Stories

AUB appoints Lebanese-American Dr. Fadlo Khuri as new president

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The American University of Beirut (AUB) has voted to elect Fadlo R. Khuri, MD, as the 16th president of the university.

Dr. Khuri, who has been an AUB trustee since 2014, is presently Chairman of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA.

He will be installed as the successor to Dr. Peter Dorman, who has served AUB since his appointment in March 2008.

The announcement followed an intensive international search commissioned by the AUB Board of Trustees that included direct input from AUB faculty, staff, and global alumni communities.

AUB Board Chairman Dr. Philip S. Khoury, who co-chaired the search committee with Trustee Dr. Huda Zoghbi, said they were searching for a candidate that had international recognition and proven ability.

“The committee was particularly attentive to the needs of the university as defined by its own constituents,” Khoury said. “We found great consistency in the attributes AUB students, faculty, alumni, and other stakeholders identified as critical for the university’s leadership and we are completely confident that Dr. Khuri embodies those attributes.”

Dr. Khuri was born in Boston, Massachusetts and brought up in Beirut, where he attended AUB from 1981-82. He moved to the US in 1982, and earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale University, in New Haven, CT, and his MD from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, NY.

He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Boston City Hospital, Boston, MA, and his fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.

“President-elect Khuri is a highly accomplished educator and researcher and an articulate voice on the imperative of liberal arts education in the Arab world,” said Khoury. “Equally important, he is a person of profound personal integrity.”

Dr. Khuri has led the recruitment of over 90 faculty including 60 clinical investigators to Emory University, helping oversee an increase in adult cancer patients from 143 in 2002 to over 650 in 2014.

“It is a genuine honor and a privilege to have been selected to lead AUB into its 150th year,” said Dr. Khuri. “The legacy of this remarkable, world class institution is evident in the breadth and depth of contributions its faculty, students and alumni have made to every aspect of life in Lebanon, the region and the world.”

Incumbent President Peter Dorman, who announced his intention to resign in June of last year, will take a sabbatical with the intention to return to the AUB faculty in 2016.

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 News

Shot sportscaster credits Lebanese-American trauma surgeon with recovery

(SAN DIEGO, CA) — A San Diego sports anchor who was shot outside of his home said he credits Lebanese-American trauma surgeon Dr. Fady Nasrallah with his miraculous recovery.

Kyle Kraska was shot on Feb. 10 by house painter Mike Montana over a financial disagreement over paint work on Kraska’s home. Montana is now charged with premeditated attempted murder and could face nearly 38 years to life in prison if convicted.

Kraska, an Emmy-award winning broadcaster with San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB-TV, spent over a month recovering from the shooting.

Prosecutors say the sportscaster was shot six times from several feet away, including twice in the upper body.

Kraska miraculously survived after undergoing several rounds of surgery under the leadership of Dr. Fady Nasrallah at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif.

Kraska returned to work this week and recognized Dr. Nasrallah for his “work ethic.”

“I just want you to know how much I love you, how much I loved your care, your thoughtfulness, your patience, your work ethic,” said Kraska in an on-air address to Dr. Nasrallah. “I love the fact that you stayed with me through the night, operating on me many times, and you refused to let me die.”

Dr. Nasrallah graduated from American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine in 2001, then completed a residency in General Surgery at Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury, CT from 2003 to 2008.

Kraska adds that he’s thankful for Dr. Nasrallah’s dedication to his recovery.

“I’ll never be able to repay you and I’ll never be able to thank you enough times,” he said. “But I want you to know that you’re right here in my heart.”

WATCH Kraska’s thank you to Dr. Nasrallah:
CBS News 8 – San Diego, CA News Station – KFMB Channel 8

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