AUB announces this year’s honorary doctorate recipients Last year›s Commencement ceremony faculties will be held in separate venues throughout the AUB campus following the ceremony. Arts and Sciences and Engineering graduates will remain on the Green Field and receive their diplomas from Dean Patrick McGreevy and engineering Dean Ibrahim Hajj. Graduates in business administration will receive their diplomas on the Green Oval from George Najjar, dean <strong>of</strong> the Suliman S. Olayan School <strong>of</strong> Business; Faculty <strong>of</strong> Agricultural and Food Sciences graduates will take their diplomas in the agriculture parking area from Dean Naha Hwalla. Dean Iman Nuwayhid will distribute diplomas to Faculty <strong>of</strong> Health Sciences graduates in Issam Fares Hall, while both the medical students and the nurses will receive their degrees in the Assembly Hall from Mohamed Sayegh, Raja N. Khuri Dean <strong>of</strong> the Faculty <strong>of</strong> Medicine, and Director Huda Abu-Saad Huijer <strong>of</strong> the Rafic Hariri School <strong>of</strong> Nursing. Dourade Al Lahham Walid Khalidi Eric Rouleau The <strong>American</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Beirut</strong> announced on May 28, 2010, the names <strong>of</strong> three Honorary Degree candidates who will receive honorary doctorates <strong>of</strong> humane letters in a ceremony in the Assembly Hall at noon on Commencement Day, June 26, 2010. Two <strong>of</strong> the honorands are active supporters <strong>of</strong> the rights <strong>of</strong> the Palestinian people—Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Walid Khalidi and journalist Eric Rouleau; the other, Duraid Lahham, is a much-loved Syrian actor, who performed in socially committed drama as well as comedies. When Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Walid Khalidi resigned his teaching post at Oxford <strong>University</strong> in 1956 in protest over the British role in the invasion <strong>of</strong> Suez, he joined the Department <strong>of</strong> Political Studies and Public Administration at AUB, where he taught until 1982, when he joined Harvard <strong>University</strong> as senior research fellow in the Center for Middle Eastern studies, a position he held until his retirement in 1997. Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Khalidi continues to this day the unswerving support for the Palestinian cause he has shown throughout a more than sixty year career <strong>of</strong> lecturing, writing articles, and editing and writing books. Through his scholarship, activism, and role in developing such institutions as the Institute for Palestine Studies, Khalidi has been credited with helping restore Palestinian identity. Eric Rouleau, a French journalist born in Egypt, has been also author, diplomat, pr<strong>of</strong>essor, and political commentator, editorializing for the French daily, Le Monde for more than three decades. Having served as French ambassador to Libya, Tunisia, and Turkey, Rouleau has focused much <strong>of</strong> his writing on the Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa as well as on such regional countries as Iran, Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. Known for his sharp criticism and realistic assessment <strong>of</strong> United States policy in the Middle East, Rouleau wrote with knowledge, depth, and authority in his many editorials, articles, and books on the region. Billed as the most famous actor in Syria since the 1960s and one <strong>of</strong> the most famous in the Arab world, Duraid Lahham, in a team act with Nihad Qali, for years dominated Syrian comedy on stage and television. Their humorous performances soon earned them comparisons with Laurel & Hardy. Later, teaming up with political playwright Mohammad al-Maghout, Lahham moved away from pure comedy to social criticism and what he called “nationalist commentary.” Lahham combined his passion for the theater with serious concern for the rights <strong>of</strong> children, and served as Regional UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Childhood in the Middle East and North Africa. AUB Today is the <strong>of</strong>ficial news publication <strong>of</strong> the <strong>American</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Beirut</strong>, Lebanon. It is published monthly by the Office <strong>of</strong> Communications, Ada Dodge Hall. Telephone 01-353228 or AUB extension: 2670/1; Fax 01-363234; e mail: information@aub.edu.lb. Responsible Editor: Antonios Francis Deputy Editor: Henry Matthews Production Manager: Randa Zaiter Content Manager: Dalia Najiya Design: Office <strong>of</strong> Communications Copy Editors: Maha Al-Azar Jean-Marie Cook, PhD Patrick Galey Jen-Lauren Ponig Cindy Saleh Staff Writers: Tracy Chemaly Rima Cortbawi Rima Fakhry Dana Halawi Lina Jbara Imogen Kimber Hiba Krisht Photographers: Mazen Jannoun Hasan Nisr Nishan Simonian Special thanks go to our contributing writers: Academic Computing Center Amal Muraywed Brave Heart Fund Cindy Saleh Cynthia Myntti Journalism Training Program Nancy Zakhour Nursing Students Society Wellness Program We are on the Web! AUB <strong>Bulletin</strong> http://staff.aub.edu. lb/~webbultn/ and its sister publication AUBMC News http://services.aubmc.org. lb/ext/aubmc_news/users/ main.asp MainGate Alumni Magazine http://staff.aub.edu. lb/~webmgate/ can be accessed from AUB’s homepage under publications and under “A-Z Index <strong>of</strong> Sites.” AUB Master Plan short-listed for prestigious Agha Khan Architecture Award The <strong>American</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Beirut</strong>’s Campus Master Plan has been short-listed by the Agha Khan Architecture Award independent jury panel which will announce the final award recipient in October 2010. Established in 1977, the Agha Khan Architecture Award is one <strong>of</strong> the most sought-after recognitions for architectural and development projects. The AUB project was one <strong>of</strong> 19 on the shortlist which was announced on May 25. The other nominees include projects which range from a textile factory in Turkey to a school built on a bridge in China, located in 16 Asian, African, and European countries with Muslim communities. The AUB master plan was developed to shape and guide the development <strong>of</strong> the university’s century-old campus over the next 20 years. It provides architectural, landscape and urban design guidelines to serve the existing and future needs <strong>of</strong> the <strong>University</strong>. It articulates an integrative landscape plan that demonstrates a subtle use <strong>of</strong> topographical conditions to enhance the existing landscaping. The plan is committed to abiding by LEEDS guidelines and certification in new buildings while prohibiting intrusion into the forest-like middle campus, preserving it as a sanctuary for indigenous plants and both native and migratory birds. Continued AUB <strong>Bulletin</strong> June 2010 3