Announcements

Waddah Nasr Announced AUB's Acting Provost
AUB Provost Peter Heath recently announced that as of August 1, 2008, Dr. Waddah Nasr will assume the position of Acting Provost until such time as a new provost is recruited. Dr. Nasr has served very ably as Associate Provost for the last nine years. During this period he has gained first-hand experience in almost all of the areas over which the Office of the Provost holds responsibility. He is quite familiar with the detailed workings of the Provost office and therefore has the necessary experience to be positioned to ensure that a smooth transition takes place over this coming year.

Dr. Nasr will have authority over all areas of related responsibilities of the provost's office except for oversight over the six academic deans and their faculties/schools, including the academic promotion process. President Peter F. Dorman will manage these areas until a new provost is appointed. To assist him in his broadened duties, Dr. Nasr has asked Dr. Nesreen Ghaddar of Faculty of Engineering and Architecture to assume the position of Acting Associate Provost for the same interim period, on a half-time basis.

The university is moving vigorously ahead with its efforts to recruit a new provost, based on an international search. The Board of Trustees has established a high-level search committee and has enlisted the services of a professional U.S.-based academic search firm to assist in this effort.

Diana Hahn Appointed Assistant Comptroller for the New York Office
Ms. Diana Hahn was recently appointed as the Assistant Comptroller for the New York office of the American University of Beirut. Ms. Hahn joins the AUB finance team after more than 20 years of service as a senior financial analyst in the New York office of the Altria Group Inc. Prior to her work for the Altria Group Inc., Ms. Hahn worked as a project administrator/auditor at the Research Foundation of the City University of New York (CUNY). Ms. Hahn earned a a bachelor's degree in business administration and Bachelor of Business public accounting and a master's of science in information systems from Pace University.

As Assistant Comptroller, Ms. Hahn reports to Ms. Eileen O'Connor, Director of the Debs Center in the AUB New York office, and to Mr. Imad Dayya, AUB Comptroller based in Beirut. Ms. Hahn will be responsible for managing the daily financial accounting operations of the AUB New York office, including supervision of the general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, budget functions, payroll and endowment accounting. She will serve as the primary liaison with investment asset managers and custodian for the endowment fund, and also liaison with the University banking relationships. Ms. Hahn will assist Mr. Dayya in the preparation of consolidated financial reports of the New York office and the main campus operations in Beirut, and will work closely with the Vice President for Finance in the preparation of reports required by the President and Board of Trustees.

Appointment of Dr. Jamal Hoballah as Chairperson of the Department of Surgery
Nadim Cortas, Vice President for Medical Affairs and the Raja N. Khuri Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center recently announced the appointment of Dr. Jamal Hoballah as Chairperson of the Department of Surgery as of July 15, 2008.

Dr. Hoballah received his MD degree from the American University of Beirut in 1981. He joined New York University (NYU) in 1982 where he completed his general surgery residency in 1987 and a trauma/critical care fellowship in 1988. He remained on the faculty at NYU for two years before moving to the University of Iowa where he completed his vascular fellowship in 1991.