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In Memoriam
Fuad S. Kawar
Fuad S. Kawar (BA '41) died on May 8, 2007, from complications of heart
failure.
After graduating from AUB, Kawar pursued his studies at the school of
law in Jerusalem, Palestine, where he graduated with a degree in law in
1945. He practiced law in Haifa until he was evacuated to Lebanon in 1948.
In Beirut, he then assumed a leading position with Aramco Overseas. In
1963, he joined the Lebanese bar association and practiced law until he
became ill a few years ago.
Very active in alumni affairs, Fuad Kawar was the general secretary of
the AUB Alumni Association from 1957 until 1967. He was also chairman
and responsible director of the publication committee for Al Kulliyeh
and Middle East Forum.
Kawar is survived by his wife of forty-nine years, Hilda Meo, and by his
son Dorian, who is a lawyer and lives with his family in Houston, Texas,
and his daughter Rhona, who lives with her family in New York City.
Professor Elias Awad
After an extended struggle with illness, Professor Elias Awad died on
June 12 in New York City. He was a member of AUB's Chemistry Department
from 1962 to 1989.
Professor Awad's remarkable career was marked by his cross-cultural schooling
and versatility. After having received his primary and secondary education
at the German School in Jerusalem, Awad completed his undergraduate studies
at Mauldin College of Cambridge University, where he earned his BS and
MS degrees. He pursued his PhD studies at Washington University.
Professor Awad enjoyed a succession of postdoctoral fellowships and furloughs
at Yale, University of North Carolina, and UCLA. He was a dedicated scientist
and a good teacher, who always chose to work on difficult research problems
in spite of the limitation of AUB's research capabilities at the time.
In addition to being a resourceful physical chemist and a biochemist,
both in his teaching and research output, Professor Awad was an ardent
humanist with more than a casual or amateur interest in art, philosophy,
and poetry. He was a gifted painter and part of that inner circle of public
intellectuals salient in the Beirut community.
Professor Awad is survived by his wife, Salwa Najib Khuri, and his two
sons, Suhayl and Sary, currently residing in the United States. A special
memorial is to be announced later. Expressions of condolence can be sent
to: awad@lynxim.com or
selwak30@hotmail.com.
Dr. Faysal Najjar
Dr. Faysal B. Najjar, a former AUBMC surgeon and director and cofounder
and general manager of a number of hospitals, died of cancer on June 6
in Saudi Arabia, after having been diagnosed with lymphoma about two months
ago. He was 67 years old.
"Dr. Najjar had an excellent reputation and was a most loyal and
active supporter of the University during a series of acute crises,"
said Acting Vice President for Medical Affairs, Adnan Mroueh. Dr. Najjar's
career at AUB spanned more than two decades, beginning with his appointment
as clinical instructor in surgery (1970-1976), then as clinical assistant
professor of surgery (1976-1986) and clinical associate professor of surgery
(1986-2005). He also held the position of deputy chief of staff from 1988
until 1994 and the position of AUBMC director from 1990 until 1994. From
1970 until 2000, he served as well on numerous committees as a member
or chairman.
Born in 1940, Dr. Najjar earned his undergraduate degree in 1960 and
his MD in 1964 from AUB, where he also completed a four-year residency
in surgery. He then followed a clinical fellowship in general and vascular
surgery at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital.
In a letter written in 1985 by the late Dr. Raja Khuri, then dean of the
Faculty of Medicine at AUB, Dr. Najjar was described as "highly respected
by students, residents and colleagues…with superb technical abilities…and
who has more than once been the major deterrent of events which could
have been catastrophic…."
In addition to his contributions to AUB, Dr. Najjar co-founded the Najjar
Hospital in Beirut with his brother, Ghazi, in 1979-1980. He was also
involved with other hospitals, including the Iskandar Khoury Hospital,
and more recently, the Medical Specialization Center Hospital in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, where he moved in 2000 to lead the hospital as its executive
director-general.
Dr. Najjar was awarded the Penrose Award at AUB in 1964 and was selected
to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society in 1963. In 1981, he received
the Lebanese Gold Honor Medical Medal of the First Degree. The Lebanese
government also awarded him the National Order of the Cedars Medal in
the rank of Knight in 1991.
Dr. Najjar is survived by his wife, Hala, and three children: Samer, a
surgeon based in Chicago; Mazen, a businessman based in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia; and Diala, a psychiatrist at AUB.
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| Terry Prothro |
Terry Prothro
Professor Emeritus Edwin Terry Prothro died in his sleep at his home in
Bethesda, Maryland, on June 2 after a long illness.
Before coming to AUB, Prothro was for three years a navy psychologist
during World War II and held teaching positions at Louisiana State University
and the University of Tennessee. In 1951, he became associate professor
of psychology and then served as professor until 1984, when he was reluctantly
evacuated by helicopter during Lebanon's civil war. He continued his services
to AUB as advisor to the chairman of the Board of Trustees, Najib Halaby,
until his retirement from AUB in 1985.
While at the University, Professor Prothro was active as chairman of the
Board of Graduate Studies between 1963 and 1970 and as dean of the Faculty
of Arts and Sciences from 1965 to 1973. From 1973 to 1985, he served as
director of the Center for Behavioral Research. Many students recall his
meticulous precision and compelling enthusiasm in the classroom, and colleagues
remember his sardonic wit when presiding over faculty meetings.
Professor Prothro's career encompassed numerous associations with American
universities. While on leave from AUB, he served as associate professor
of psychology at Brooklyn College (1953-54), as lecturer in psychology
at the University of Michigan (1957-58), as fellow at the Middle East
Center, Harvard University (1960), and at the University of the City of
New York (1963). He also served as professor of psychology and deputy
director of the Education Abroad Program at the University of California
(Santa Barbara) from 1975 to 1977, and as senior research associate at
the American University (Washington, DC) in 1981.
Following his retirement from AUB in 1985, Prothro continued his service
to education in the Middle East as director (1985-86) of the Washington,
DC-based Hariri Colleges Project, in which both AUB and the Hariri Foundation
were involved. He then joined the Hariri Foundation as advisor in 1986,
becoming deputy vice president in 1987 and vice president from 1990 until
his retirement in 1997. While with the foundation, he counseled many Lebanese
students in American and Canadian universities and institutes.
Prothro's career was marked by numerous awards and appointments, among
them the Ford Foundation, UNICEF, the US National Institute of Mental
Health, and membership on the editorial boards of the Journal of Social
Psychology and the Marriage and Family Review. In 1969 he received the
Order of the Cedars from the Republic of Lebanon. He is listed in Who's
Who in Science from Antiquity to the Present, Who's Who in the World,
and Who's Who in America.
Concentrating on cross-cultural psychology, Professor Prothro wrote five
books, many chapters in books, and some fifty articles in prominent international
journals. His research focused on treatment of family patterns in the
Arab East, child rearing in Lebanon, and other studies of psycho-sociological
issues in the Arab world. At the time of his retirement, Emeritus Professor
Prothro was working on a book, Consilience Two, about the unity of knowledge
approached from the perspective of evolutionary psychology.
Professor Prothro's wife, Najla Prothro (nee Salman), may be reached at
8200 Wisconsin Avenue, Apt. 1015, Bethesda, MD 20814, Tel: (301) 654-5346.
Their daughter Gwendolyn may be reached by e-mail at gprothro@steptoe.com.