Initiated in fall 1987, the A.U.B./Hariri Foundation Faculty Development/Faculty Dependents Program sought to strengthen the quality of education at the American University of Beirut by two means: (1) supporting the graduate education in the United States of a select group of promising faculty members who would then return to teach at A.U.B. for a number of years equal to the number of years spent in study in the United States under this program; (2) supporting the undergraduate and graduate education in the United States of dependents of specially valued A.U.B. faculty members so as to encourage the continued tenure of these faculty members at A.U.B.
This program was financed through a generous grant from Mr. Rafik B. Hariri and jointly administered by the Hariri Foundation and A.U.B.
A total of 23 faculty members pursued graduate programs in the United States from fall 1987 through spring 1994. Of this number, 15 enrolled in doctoral programs, 2 in medical doctor programs, 5 in master of science programs, and 1 in a medical research fellowship (P.D.F.) program.
In addition to the 23 faculty development program participants, the Hariri Foundation sponsored 22 faculty dependents under the A.U.B. – Hariri Foundation Faculty Dependents Program. All but one of the dependents pursued studies through the graduate level: 8 at the doctoral level, 2 in medical doctor programs, 10 at the master’s level, 1 at the bachelor’s level, and one in a medical fellowship program.
The 8 doctoral students concentrated in biomedical engineering, engineering management, civil engineering, computer science, environmental health sciences, economics, nutrition, English literature. Those faculty dependents that entered master’s programs majored in art history, international relations, business, public health, fine arts, civil engineering, computer engineering, architecture, plant science, and biostatistics.