Faculty Profile: Sammy Showail

Professor Sammy Showail

New to the Olayan School of Business is Professor Sammy Showail. A native of Saudi Arabia, Showail brings a wealth of experience in business administration. When he arrived in Lebanon in the summer of 2007, he found that the situation was much better than he expected, and described the country as truly a bridge between East and West.

Showail earned his bachelor's degree in architecture from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia in 1992. He then earned his master's in both business administration and construction management from Washington University in St. Louis in 1998. Between 1992 and 1999, he worked at the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense as part of the International Airports Project.

Showail's work for the ministry gave him extensive experience in contract administration and construction management. It was during this period that he shifted his attention from architecture and decided to pursue his master's in construction management, saying that this field of study concentrates on the people aspect of business, something architecture does not offer. From 1999 until 2000, he worked for Saudi Arabian Aramco on various projects in Dhahran. He later pursued his PhD in business administration from the Washington University in St. Louis, earning his degree in 2007.

Throughout this period, Showail worked as a researcher at the university, focusing on negotiations and cross-cultural management issues. In 2007, he landed his current position as an assistant professor in management, marketing, and entrepreneurship at AUB.

For someone who has spent half his life in the West, Showail finds that Lebanon acts as a bridge between East and West. It offers the best of both worlds, where one can be modern and open, and yet maintain family ties, which is what he missed during his time in the United States. and what made him return to the Middle East.

He chose AUB to pursue his academic projects because of its reputation as the best educational institution in the Middle East. After spending a few months here, he believes the University does indeed live up to its reputation.