Kuwait Chapter
The Kuwait Chapter had its first Ramadan Ghabga/Suhur at the Hilton Resort, Mangaf on Friday, October 5. Around 300 AUB alumni gathered and enjoyed a casual and relaxing evening.

Saudi Arabia Eastern Province
The AUB alumni in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia held their annual suhur at the Nesma Compound al-Khobar on September 27 for around 500 alumni and friends. Sheikh Saleh Al-Turki, a prominent intellectual, philanthropist, and businessman, was the featured —and outstanding—guest speaker. In his speech, Sheikh Saleh stressed the importance of the role of AUB, not only as an educational center, but also as a center of cultural integration and liberal thinking. His Excellency the Lebanese ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain attended the event, as did alumni members from the Riyadh and Bahrain branches. Guests enjoyed prizes, live Lebanese music, and a slideshow of historic photos of AUB and Lebanon. The proceeds from the event were donated to the Eastern Province Saudi Arabia Scholarship Fund which has paid the tuition of eight students.

North America
Montreal Chapter
On May 12 the Montreal Alumni Chapter—with the Coalition of Professionals Canada Lebanon (CPCL) and Jamhour Alumni Canada (AJC) —held a gala dinner at the elegant ballroom of Le Windsor in downtown Montreal. The event, which celebrated the 140th anniversary of AUB, brought together AUBites and showcased the Lebanese diaspora’s strong support for Lebanon. Riad Salame (BA ’73), the governor of the Lebanese Central Bank, was honored for his outstanding achievements. Distinguished keynote speakers included Lebanese Minister of Culture Tarek Mitri and James Zoghby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, DC.

During the gala, Chapter President Mona Ahdab thanked the large audience and spoke of the key role AUB has played in the region throughout its 140 year history. She urged the alumni in the diaspora and more specifically the more than 5,000 alumni in North America to mobilize to support the University and maintain its legacy and mission. In his remarks, Dr. Donald Edde, former president of the Montreal Chapter and president of CPCL and AJC, also emphasized that the best way to support Lebanon would be to uphold and strengthen the role of AUB.

This event, attended by 260 alumni and friends as well as prominent Canadian officials, MPs, and ministers was preceded by an afternoon symposium at Concordia University entitled: “An Outlook on Lebanon: Economic and Cultural Perspectives.” Riad Salame, Tarek Mitri, and James Zoghby addressed an audience of more than 300 students on various economic and social topics related to Lebanon.

Thanks to generous sponsors, $22,500 in net proceeds from the gala evening were donated to the Epileptic Fund at AUB.

New York Metropolitan Chapter
With a newly elected Executive Committee in place, the New York Metropolitan Chapter has been hard at work and organized various activities during the spring and summer months:

Film screening: the chapter organized an outing for the showing of the Lebanese movie “Falafel” at the Tribeca Film Festival in the spring, which about 30 alumni and friends attended.

Happy Hours: in keeping with a rooftop bar theme, the chapter organized two happy hours at New York City landmarks – at a rooftop bar underneath the Empire State Building and at another rooftop bar behind the New York Public Library in Bryant Park.

May Nasr Concert: the chapter took advantage of Lebanese singer May Nasr’s presence in the United States to organize a concert at the AUB offices in August. May, on her acoustic guitar, performed some of her own songs in addition to pieces by Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers. All proceeds from the concert went to the NY Met Chapter AUB Scholarship Fund.

Picnic: to mark the end of summer, the chapter organized a picnic the weekend after Labor Day at Sheep Meadow in Central Park. The event, which started at noon and continued until the park closed at dusk, attracted more than 50 alumni and friends who enjoyed delicious Lebanese food.

The chapter is also actively reaching out to young alumni new to the NY Metro area. Please visit the chapter web page at www.aub. edu/nymetalumnichapter for details.

Ottawa Chapter
BBQ picnic: The Ottawa Chapter held their traditional annual BBQ picnic with fellow alumni and friends on July 14 at Vincent Massey Park. Kudos to all the alumni (and their mothers!) who did the catering and to the volunteers who stood by the gigantic inferno BBQ and cooked delicious kebabs. Hershey’s Shoppe: On August 26, alumni and friends discovered a “must stop” for chocolate lovers at Smiths Falls, located along the beautiful Rideau Canal. Who can say “no” to a tour of a chocolate factory? After visiting the Hershey’s Shoppe, the group headed to the river locks to grab a bite and enjoy the view…Iftar: On Wednesday, September 26, a group of alumni and friends headed to Uncle Louis for a traditional iftar meal of dates, pistachios, sesame snaps, homemade lentil soup, and Middle-Eastern cuisine.

WAAAUB–Lebanon
WAAAUB iftar: On October 5, President of the WAAAUB Board of Directors Khalil Makkawi invited the other members of the board, Lebanese alumni chapter presidents, and WAAAUB Alumni Council members in Lebanon for an iftar on the AUB campus. Makkawi plans to organize other meetings like this outside Lebanon to give WAAAUB council members a chance to meet WAAAUB members worldwide. In greeting the alumni leadership, Makkawi remarked that joint cooperation between the Board of Directors and the WAAAUB Alumni Council is critical to serving AUB and its alumni worldwide. Earlier that day, Dr. Makkawi and the other members of the WAAAUB Board of Directors held a meeting in College Hall with the presidents of the alumni chapters and branches in Lebanon during which chapter presidents presented a report on the status of each chapter to the WAAAUB Board of Directors.

WAAAUB 2007 Official Election Results

Alumni Elected to the AUB Board of Trustees
Young Trustee
Abdulsalam Haykal (BA ’01)
Trustee
Yusef Abu Khadra (BBA ’69); Raja Trad (BA ’77)

Board of Directors
Regional Representatives (2 years)
Asia: Saadia Chisti (D.Ed ’57, MA ’59)
Europe: Talal Farah (BA ’62, MA ’70)
Lebanon: Nabil Dajani (BA ’57, MA ’60)
MENA: Abdul Hamid Bibi (BBA ’64)
North America: Genane Maalouf, Vice-President (BBA ’98)
Rest of the World*: Karam Doumet, Treasurer (BBA ’78, MBA ’80)

Others:
Mahmoud Abdul Baki
Lebanon (1 year) (BE ’60, ME ’66)

Muhieddine Doughan
Lebanon (1 year) Secretary (BS ’80, MS ’82)

Samir Abou Jaoude
Lebanon (1 year) (BS ’58)

Ricardo Yazbeck Karam
Lebanon (1 year) (BS ’91)

Fouad Kronfol
North America (1 year) (BS ’57; MA ’70)

Khalil Makkawi
Lebanon (1 year) †President (BA ’54)

Zahi Masri
MENA (2 years) (BA ’74)

Ioannis Violaris
Europe (2 years) (BA ’78)

Maha Zabaneh
North America (1 year) (BA ’84)

At-Large Alumni Council

Recent Graduates
Ziad Halabi
Asia (1 year) (BBA ’03)

Nicolas Khoury
Lebanon (2 years) (BBA ’05)

Ayman Kichly
Europe (2 years) (BE ’03)

Asia
Daniel Azzi
(1 year) (BS ’86)

Youseff Dagher
(2 years) (BBA ’98)

Europe
Leila Alameddine
(2 years) (BA ’85, MA ’88)

Mark Daou
(1 year) (BBA ’01)

Hisham El Solh
(2 years) (BA ’61)

Lebanon
Faisal Alami
(2 years) (BE ’75)

Mohammad El Ansari
(2 years) (BS ’00; MPH ’04)

Rafi Atamian
(2 years) (BS ’85, MD ’89)

Donald Babikian
(1 year) (BS ’00)

Hala Badreddine
(2 years) (BSN ’93, BS ’93, MPH ’95)

Arabelle El-Barbir
(2 years) (BA ’97, MA ’05)

Randa Bdeir
(1 year) (BBA ’79, MS ’92)

Rami Samir Chidiac
(1 year) (BBA ’87)

Haifa Cortbawi
(2 years) (BS ’01)

Ghina Sabra Dandan
(1 year) (BA ’90, MMB ’94)

Dania Dbaibo Darwish
(2 years) (BBA ’97, MA ’07)

Rabih Fakhreddine
(2 years) (BBA ’06)

Ramez Haddad
(2 years) (BS ’74)

Jad El Hajj
(2 years) (BS ’01)

Raja Faris Hajjar
(2 years) (BS ’50, MS ’52)

Sophie Hallal
(2 years) (BS ’00, MBA ’04)

Khaled Hanbali
(1 year) (BS ’91)

Huda Abu-Saad Huijer
(1 year) (BSN ’71)

Wadad El-Husseiny
(1 year) (BA ’88, teaching diploma ’91, MA ’94)

Rima Al Kadi
(2 years) (BBA ’79)

Georges Kanaan
(1 year) (BE ’68)

Nasri Kawar
(2 years) (BS ’56, MS ’59)

Pierre El Khoury
(1 year) (BE ’98, ME ’06)

Hanna Kobeissi
(1 year) (BS ’84, MPH ’86)

Maroun Merhi
(1 year) (BS ’81, BBA ’82)

Gladys Mouro
(1 year) (BSN ’76)

Iskandar Moussa
(1 year) (BE ’94)

Nader El Nakib
(2 years) (BA ’95)

Lamia Osseiran
(2 years) (BS ’86)

Makram Rabah
(1 year) (BA ’03, MA ’07)

Mazen El Refai
(2 years) (BS ’92)

Alain Nabil Sabri
(1 year) (BS ’88, MD ’92)

Philip Saleh
(1 year) (BARCH ’98)

Doris Saouma
(1 year) (BA ’02)

Bassam Sawaya
(1 year) (BE ’89)

Fouad Tarazi
(2 years) (BE ’02)

Samir Traboulsi
(1 year) (BE ’73, ME ’75, MBA ’80)

MENA
Amer Bibi
(2 years) (BBA ’72)

Nabil Zaki Boulos
(1 year) (BE ’66)

Mazen Dajani
(2 years) (BBA ’58, MA ’69)

Haifa Dia (Al Attiah)
(2 years) (BA ’75)

Marwan Gholmieh
(1 year) (BA ’69)

Roula Harb
(1 year) (BA ’80)

Marwan Hayek
(2 years) (BS ’72, MS ’74)

Haya Mohammed Imam
(1 year) (BBA ’99)

Diala Jawhary
(2 years) (BS ’98)

May Al Otaibi Al-Khalifah
(2 years) (BA ’72)

Raja Khouri
(1 year) (BA ’74)

Zeina Mardini
(1 year) (BS ’06)

Fawzi Melhem
(2 years) (BS ’01, MS ’02)

Mona Fuleihan Miqdadi
(2 years) (BA ’66)

Randa Nabulsi
(1 year) (BS ’77)

Jihane Najjar
(1 year) (BA ’01, MA ’03)

George Riachy
(2 years) (BARCH ’00)

North America
Ghassan Abou-Samra
(1 year) (BE ’02)

Lina Badih
(2 years) (BA ’97)

Rita Chalabi
(2 years) (BA ’80)

Samer Dibs
(2 years) (BS ’85, MD ’89)

Mohamad Elfakhani
(1 year) (BS ’01, MD ’06)

Farid Hadda
(1 year) (BA ’41, MD ’48)

Suheil Muasher
(1 year) (BS ’72, MD ’76)

Samir Samaha
(2 years) (BBA ’79)

Hadia Shbaklo
(1 year) (BS ’94, MS ’96)

Leila Tarazi
(2 years) (MA ’72)

Rest of the World*
Abdelatif Belmehdi
(2 years) (BS ’74)

* “Rest of the World” consists of Africa, Latin America, Australia, and other island nations in the Pacific (not included in the Asia region).

Medicine Class of 1982
Reunion in North America

Instead of a reunion you join a gym or start yoga. Or do anything else. Sound familiar? After 25 years, there are no more excuses for missing a reunion. Dr. Akram Talhouk (MD ’82) writes about planning a North American reunion, the joy of meeting classmates’ children, and a plan to honor the memory of those who couldn’t be there. They won’t wait another 25 years for their next reunion.

Plan it and they will come
We have talked about this for a number of years but never got around to doing anything about it. Mini-reunions happened here and there. Summer in Beirut was always a good time to see some of the boys and girls. But we never had an official reunion. And time flies: it is like mercury in your hand; it slips, and the more you want to hold on to it the more slippery it is.

Five years after graduation was “no time at all.” Deep in residency, five years is just about the time you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Ten years after graduation you are trying to establish a practice, organize a life, adjust to a new country, or to an old one with a new scarred face. Fifteen years, you are either struggling with diapers or you have just emerged from the world of diapers and are plunging into the dungeons of the teenage years. Twenty years after graduation you suppress the memory of the fact because...it just cannot be.

No way, do you really mean we have reached the age that our parents were when we went to medical school?! Instead of a reunion you join a gym or start yoga. Twenty five years... that is a landmark that you cannot dismiss, suppress, ignore, or neglect. It hits you in the face like a pie flung at you from the sinkhole of time. You are circling the drain towards the wormhole that will catapult you to your next state of existence and the 25 year pie is circling up towards you. You just cannot avoid it...it slams you right in the face.

Let’s go back to the Class of 1982. We planned it and we came. We all met one early morning in early October 1977 in front of the Basic Science Building. We were proud, happy, excited, and definitely anxious. We came from Beit Meri, we came from Beirut, we came from Tripoli, Koura, and Zgharta. We came from Marji’yoon, from Aitat, and from Ba’aqleen.

We planned it and we came. This time in Cambridge on Chesapeake Bay. Sonia, Paul, and Walid from California. Costy, Issam, and Lina from Texas. Capitaine from Baltimore. Raja and Fadi from New York. Azizy Aziz and Shaheen Al Armani from Boston. Three “M”, Randa, and Hassan from New Jersey...and so on and so forth. From “each valley a twig”... but in a different country. A different language too, but amazingly the same people. Wider at the waist... white hairs here and there, floppy triceps...yet the same boys and girls coming together with their own boys and girls.

The children...the children of the boys and girls of the Class of’ ‘82 met, became friends again, and couldn’t stop hugging each other on the day of departure. I guess the love and friendship that their parents share with their classmates spilled over in a big way.

All the children, whether from two Lebanese parents, or one Lebanese and one “foreigner,” called themselves Lebanese. Blonde haired, blue eyed, black haired, dark eyed, few or no Arabic words...yet Lebanese. Maen’s son, who looks as western as any westerner, says he’s Lebanese. In spite of everything, they have a sense of belonging.

Before the Class of ‘82 dispersed they created a new bond that will keep them together yet again. They committed to establishing an endowment fund to provide scholarships for needy medical students. That will keep us busy, that will keep us together, that will keep us in touch, and that will help us pay back some of what we owe the Alma Mater and the country. It is The Medicine Class of 1982 Endowed Scholarship Fund – In Memory of Zalfa Ali-Hamad, Adnan Badro, Hani Hout, and Antoine Zubuni. We will continue to contribute until we retire or die. When we die we add our name to the list. The one who lives the longest will pay the most. We figure that it will only be fair.

We will have another reunion soon. This time we will not wait 25 years.

We issue a challenge to other classes, not just from the medical school. We learned that AUB has only about 140 endowments. Hundreds of classes have graduated over the years. Join us and create your own class endowment. We were all lucky to be in this class. We all are proud to be in this class.

YADEE ILA QALBEE.
Akram Bin Shakib-Min Aitat
Dr. Akram Talhouk
(Medicine ’82)

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