Sally Abou Melhem, Office of Communications, communications@aub.edu.lb
The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) awarded the 2020 Kuwait Prize in the field of economics and social sciences (area of administrative, financial, and banking sciences), to Professor Salim Chahine, the Abdul Aziz Al-Sagar Chair in Finance at the Olayan School of Business at AUB, former executive director of AUB-Innovation Park, and currently third vice-governor of Banque Du Liban, the central bank of Lebanon.
Dr. Khaled Al-Fadhel, KFAS director general, stated that the 2020 laureates represent outstanding scientific minds whose prolific publications and research contributions are inspirational to the research community, especially for early career and young researchers, who aspire to make an impact through their scientific contributions, according to the foundation's announcement of the award winners.
Through this prize, “Professor Chahine is recognized for his valuable and outstanding research on topics related to finance and banking, including entrepreneurial finance, venture capital and corporate governance." The prize was jointly awarded to Professor Amine Tarazi, director of the research center LAPE at the University of Limoges in France, for his exceptional research on topics related to banking and finance.
“During my tenure at AUB, my research has focused on improving our understanding of the impact of potential conflicts of interests on the decision making process in general, and firm valuation in particular," Chahine commented. “Specifically, my work tackles the role played by investment banks, risk financiers, as well as corporate governance in supporting the growth of the private sector, and the development of financial markets. It extends to exploring the effects of country-level and firm-level uncertainty on business dynamics and performance."
Chahine has a PhD in finance from the University of Aix-Marseille, and two master's degrees in financial engineering and in banking and finance and has multiple certificates from Harvard Business School and New York University. His research is mainly in business and finance, and he has several publications in international academic journals. His work has been profiled in Bankers and the National Bureau of Economic Research in the US, and has been presented in leading international conferences such as the American Finance Association and the European Finance Association meetings.
He was the recipient of the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation Award for the Best Young Arab Researcher in Economics, Banking, Financial and Management Sciences 2008 (The Arab Bank), for outstanding research output over the period 2005-2007. He also received an Excellence Medal for distinguished scholarship fellowship given by late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In addition to his current role at AUB, Chahine was the interim dean at AUB's Olayan School of Business between April 2013 to December 2015. He has multiple consulting experiences in both the public and the private sectors in Europe, North Africa, and the GCC, and he has taught and held visiting positions in several universities in the US, Europe, and the Arab World.
Read more about Chahine's career and achievements on https://www.aub.edu.lb/pages/profile.aspx?memberId=sc09
The Kuwait Prize
Established in 1979, the Kuwait Prize recognizes the exceptional and longstanding achievements of Arab researchers in the fields of basic sciences, applied sciences, economics and social sciences, as well as art and literature. A fifth field, Arabic and Islamic scientific heritage, is announced every three years and is open to all scholars, regardless of nationality. The awardees are selected though a three-stage review process conducted by international experts in the specific fields.
For more information about the 2020 Kuwait Prize winners visit: https://www.kfas.org/media-publications/news/Winners-of-the-Kuwait-Prize-and-Al-Nouri-Prize-for-2020?fbclid=IwAR11HOb9GeNFjTnmyjfC3a-tKPs0uyOGz8NclgskRb4A_w0UZ_3EUlPNzMc