Zaki Nassif was a student at AUB from 1936 to 1941. Following his passing in    2004, a group of AUB faculty members and lovers of his art, "Muhibbu Fann Zaki Nassif fi'l Jami'al-Amirikiyya," began to look for ways in which AUB could honor the memory of Zaki and keep his art alive. Since AUB is the institution that can provide the recognition he deserves, the group has been encouraged and supported by Dr. Khalil Bitar, former dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at AUB from 1997 to 2009, and Dr. Walid Gholmieh, president of the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music, of which Zaki Nassif was a Board Member until his death. In order to Keep Zaki's music alive, an announcement was made as to the establishment of an endowed fund to support a "Zaki Nassif Music Program" at AUB.