On the 2nd of August, 2016 the University Libraries received a valuable donation from Mr. Habib Nassib Hammam (BA ’66, MA ’69). The collection consists of historical photographs of AUB students’ life, as well as the English translation of the speech of Ahmed Djemal Pasha delivered to students of the Syrian Protestant College during his visit on January 29th, 1917.
The collection also includes documents and photographs of events by the AUB Alumni Association- North Lebanon Chapter- in the early 1960s.
The Hammam family is from Shweir, Lebanon and has been associated with AUB since the 1880s. Dr. Habib Hammam Sr. graduated from the medical school in 1888. His children, Dr. Adib, Dr. Wadi’ (Dentistry), Dr. Nassib, and Ms. Naifeh Hammam (Nursing) also graduated from AUB.
Nassib Hammam’s children, Nijad (BE ’65), Samir (BE ’69), and Nadim (BE ’84) graduated from the school of Engineering, and Habib graduated from the School of Arts and Sciences.
Elia Hammam, son of Jirjis Hammam, the author, and educator, graduated and taught botany briefly at AUB until his untimely death in a snowstorm on mount Sannine in 1931 while on a skiing hike with AUB colleagues.
Dr. Nassib Hammam was instrumental in establishing the North Lebanon Chapter of the AUB Alumni Association and was its president in the early 1960s. The Hammam family was one of the contributors to the reconstruction of College Hall after it was destroyed during the Lebanese civil war.
In receiving the gift, Dr. Mariette Atallah, Head of the Collection Development Department at the University Libraries said “this is a great collection received from a faithful AUBite. The items in this beautiful gift complement and complete some missing milestones and documents about AUB’s History. We thank the Hammam family, especially Mr. Habib, for this valuable gift.”
For more about this collection, visit the library website: http://library.aub.edu.lb/record=b1893228~S1