American Meridian University proudly announces the recipients of AMU Honorary Doctorates for the year 2018. All three recipients have gained international esteem for measurable achievements in their chosen fields. Most importantly, they have time and again demonstrated a higher purpose in their work – unselfishly improving the lives of others through service and education.
Mr. Antoun Moussa, a graduate of the American University in Washington D.C., served the World Bank for 43 years involved in projects which he describes as “finding common purpose in public projects so that private sector funding could help satisfy community needs.” He led initiatives in over 50 countries, spanning all continents, in Information Technology, online education, institutional reforms and strategic management. Finance for such projects ranged from 20 million to 2 billion US dollars.
His accomplishments included the launch and establishment of – “telephone boutiques” for connecting the “last mile” population, – the first demonstration of “Telemedicine” in the Middle East, the “Bank on wheels”, the “Regional Education Centers”, the “Info Shops”, and the “Distant Learning mechanisms” for farmers in Asia and Africa.
Mr. Moussa’s contributions in the fields of technology, education, and health services made a positive difference in the fight against poverty and helped in raising the living conditions of the inhabitants.
Rev. Fadi Dagher, a graduate of the Near East School of Theology, is a pastor, a church leader, a dedicated humanitarian and a devout educational supporter. He is the Trust and Faith keeper of the early American Presbyterian missionaries who founded two leading American universities in Lebanon over a century and half ago.
Rev. Dagher is the General Secretary of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, Founder and Director of Hemlin Hospital for the elderly, a member of the Supreme Council of the Evangelical Churches in Syria and Lebanon, Executive Committee Member of the Middle East Council of Churches, and Chairman of the Near East School of Theology. He served as the President of the Association of the 30-strong Evangelical Schools in Lebanon, and as a special status member of the Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American University.
Rev. Dagher’s contributions in promoting, managing and supporting American type educational institutions in Lebanon and Syria, both at the K-12 and university levels are both significant and extensive.
Mrs. Hiam Sakr, a graduate of the American University of Beirut, is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, visionary and innovative educational leader. She is Founder and President of the American University of Science & Technology (AUST) located in Lebanon. She is also the Founder and President of the American Lebanese Language Centers in Lebanon, the first network of language centers in Lebanon.
President Sakr’s professional life is notable for the diverse accomplishments on which she embarked with an ever-expanding vision. She started her career as a teacher of the English language and became a consultant to UNESCO on English language teaching in diverse Arab countries. She next established a chain of language centers throughout Lebanon. Her entrepreneurial decision derived from a humanitarian wish: to make English language acquisition available to all Lebanese citizens. It was the same humanitarian impulse- this time to make university education accessible to all young men and women at a reasonable cost— that led her to establish AUST.
Though she has never sought the limelight, international leaders have noticed and awarded her work: She was decorated by the President of the Republic of Lebanon, recognized by NGOs in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, honored by social, governmental, and women’s organizations for her support of education in the Middle East, and decorated by the Bulgarian government for providing subsidized access to education to youth who could otherwise not afford it.
Dr. Georges Nicolas, the Chairman of the AMU Board of Trustees, praised the three recipients. “The entire AMU Community congratulates the esteemed recipients for their significant achievements. All three recipients of the honorary doctorates do honor to AMU by their sustained innovation, vision, and quantifiable improvements. They leave a legacy which shall endure at AMU”.
