Winter 2009 Vol. VII, No. 2

From the President

Dear Alumni and Friends,

In this issue of MainGate magazine, you will meet AUB professors and students changing children’s lives, improving health-care access to entire communities, and training medical professionals across the region. Coincidentally, the theme that ties these topics together, chosen many months ago, is Palestine and its people. As I write this letter, a fragile cease-fire continues to hold in Gaza after several weeks of conflict and carnage.

Especially at such a moment of regional trauma, we must understand how important it is that we recommit ourselves to the mission of this great University: “to provide excellence in education, to participate in the advancement of knowledge through research, and to serve the peoples of the Middle East and beyond.” Serving the peoples of the Middle East takes many forms, and AUB has historically pursued many avenues of service—educating generations of young men and women, caring for the healthcare needs of the people of Lebanon and the region, seeking opportunities to reach out to communities in need, and conducting research on topics that are important to regional advancement.

Yet at a time when the needs are so great, our resources are severely constrained. Like virtually all institutions of higher education, AUB has suffered losses in the current financial meltdown. The University has already taken steps to economize and will continue to do so. At the same time, we are reaching out to the members of the AUB family to ask for their help. Although the University is seeking support for many initiatives such as the ongoing work to build new facilities, renovate our classrooms and laboratories, invest in the Medical Center, and secure resources for our eight new PhD offerings, the priority now—as it has been for many years—is financial aid. Our ability to offer unrestricted and restricted scholarship support enables us to educate students from around the world, of all backgrounds and circumstances, creating a gathering of minds with diverse perspectives that can positively impact every community, both here and abroad. The vital work in Palestinian communities presently being pursued by our students and faculty is only one example of the shining difference AUB can make.

It is vital that we be able to offer young men and women the opportunity to attend AUB and to build new lives here in the Middle East: quite simply, it represents hope for the future. I hope you will join me in the New Year by pledging your support.

Peter F. Dorman
President, American University of Beirut