Dear members of the AUB community,
It is with a heavy heart that I write today to inform you of the passing of an enduring AUB icon, Dr. Ibrahim Salti. Dr. Salti was an outstanding physician and scholar, an inspirational teacher and mentor, and a stalwart leader, who helped AUB and AUBMC through some of the most critical years of the Lebanese Civil War. We have lost a true pillar of our community.
Born in Jerusalem in 1941, Ibrahim Salti was a child of the Nakba. His family fled Palestine in 1948 and moved multiple times, finally settling in Amman, Jordan. Having graduated high school early, he came to AUB as a freshman at the tender age of 14 years, earning his BS in 1959 with high distinction and his MD in 1963 with distinction. He never really left. Moving briefly to Canada, he completed his fellowship in endocrinology and gained his PhD in medical sciences from the University of Toronto in 1970 before promptly moving back to what would become his permanent home, AUB. In November 1970, Dr. Salti was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and he steadily rose to the rank of professor in 1981, being awarded tenure in 1984.
A pioneer in the field of endocrinology, Dr. Salti served as head of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at AUBMC for 24 consecutive years. He established the first clinical endocrinology fellowship program in the region at AUB, that rapidly grew to become a premier program of international standards that many aspire to emulate. Dr. Salti has continued until recently to teach, mentor, and inspire generations of physicians. In 1999, he founded the Pan Arab Congress for Endocrinology and Diabetes which awarded him in 2002 the Novo-Nordisk Achievement Award in Diabetes for his lifetime of impactful work in diabetes care and education. Amongst his many prestigious honors, Ibrahim was awarded the Lebanese National Medal of Merit, the Jordanian Medal of Honor, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists' International Clinician Award.
In 1987, with AUB and Lebanon suffering through the seemingly endless civil war, the Board of Trustees appointed Ibrahim Salti as deputy president and chief operating officer. Dr. Salti steadfastly took the reins of the institution, in collaboration with President Frederic Herter, and guided it through a particularly delicate and grueling period. As deputy president from 1987 to 1993, Ibrahim assembled a capable team which diligently served AUB with resilience and fortitude. He was appointed chair of the Institutional Review Board in 1986, and relentlessly continued until 2012 to ensure the ethical conduct of research campus wide. On retiring from administration in 1993, he re-dedicated his energies to the service of the patient, maintaining an outstanding clinical practice, mentoring generations of medical students, residents, and fellows into leading endocrinologists and internists, while resuming his high-quality research. All who work, teach, study, and serve at AUB owe him a great debt of gratitude.
In a poignant, overdue ceremony for many, I and the AUB community were delighted to honor Dr. Salti this past April for his more than 50 years of outstanding service to this institution. As I said at the time, Ibrahim Salti had a six-decade love affair with his university, and it returned his affections many times over. His great passions were AUB, Palestine, his family, patients, and mentees, to whom he remained dedicated across the entirety of his professional life. “He has given our institution every fiber of his devotion, remarkable intellect, humanism, dedication, and humility" I said at that event. Dr. Salti was a role model for the evidence-based care of the patient, and has left a permanent mark at AUB. Please join me in sending our most sincere condolences to his wife and life partner, Dr. Nuha Nuwayri Salti, their three children, Racha, Nisrine, and Haytham, and his siblings and grandchildren.
At his honoring ceremony, Dr. Mona Nasrallah said, “Dr. Salti, you make me a better person." Indeed, Dr. Ibrahim Salti made many into better people and he made this institution a better place. His memory will forever be alive, and his legacy will long prevail at his alma mater. May he rest in eternal peace.
Best regards,
Fadlo R. Khuri, MD
President