Dear members of the AUB community,
As the universally esteemed Dr. Saouma Boujaoude concludes his term on December 31, 2022 as the Mamdouha El-Sayed Bobst interim dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), I am very pleased to announce that he will take on a new and important role as senior advisor to the president. He takes over in this capacity to fill the shoes of another all-time AUB great, the recently deceased Professor Makhlouf Haddadin.
Dr. Boujaoude has capably steered AUB's first and largest faculty as interim dean since January 1, 2022 and will undoubtedly be a great resource for incoming Mamdouha El-Sayed Bobst Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Farès Dahdah. This most recent administrative service is one of many leadership roles taken on by Saouma Boujaoude over more than 25 years, having served as associate dean in FAS since 2016. He has been instrumental to ensuring AUB's instructional continuity during the pandemic. He has also ably directed the Center for Teaching and Learning since 2009, chaired the Department of Education, and directed the Science and Math Education Center.
Professor Boujaoude holds a bachelor of science degree from AUB and a master's and a doctoral degree from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. After being an assistant professor in the Department of Science Teaching at Syracuse University, New York, he returned to his alma mater in 1993 where he has remained ever since. A prolific author, world renowned scholar in science education, and much sought-after speaker and presenter, Dr. Boujaoude has written over a hundred academic articles, in addition to books and textbooks in both Arabic and English, as well as numerous reports, reviews, and conference proceedings. He has attended well over 200 conferences and workshops as a presenter, panelist, and leader.
Directly impacting the training of science teachers and the development of science curricula, he is an engaged scholar and peerless mentor, one who has impacted science education at the local, regional, and international levels. His many academic and professional accomplishments have been recognized with the 2020 Distinguished Contributions to Science Education Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST). He has also received numerous honors for his scholarly achievements, including the Kuwait Prize in 2017, the Takreem Arab Achievement Award in 2010, and a prize from the Academy of Science for the Developing World in 2009 where he was elected a fellow in 2010. His name has long been synonymous with the field of science education in the Arab region.
Saouma is known to all as a humble, brilliant, thoughtful man, one who accomplishes a great deal with quiet persistence, careful reflection, patience, and a continuous focus on collaboration. These each are rare qualities to find individually, much less collectively. And yet they are greatly in need among leaders. Dr. Boujaoude not only has them but he is able to teach these qualities. I look forward to benefiting from Saouma's dedication to excellence and sage counsel in the years to come. I cannot think of anyone better suited to occupy the post of senior advisor to the president.
Please join me in wishing Dr. Boujaoude all the best moving forward and in thanking him for all he has done thus far—and will undoubtedly continue to do—for students and teachers everywhere, for his university, for his field, for the region, and for the world.
Best regards,
Fadlo R. Khuri, MD
President