Enriching Education and Research
In order to both meet the intellectual and academic needs of all students, and become a research university of world-class standing, we have reinstated academic tenure. We now must attract the best scholarly talent. For that we need funds to earmark for academic research, academic chairs, and centers of excellence.
With your support, our doctoral programs will grow from nine to more than twenty as we pivot from being primarily a teaching-centered institution to a research-centered university that adds to the world’s knowledge.
The university’s goal is to build on its matchless track record of developing leaders, doctors, engineers and scholars, to update our curriculum, emphasizing leadership, citizenship, and team building. Future AUB graduates will be the beneficiaries of this holistic approach to higher education and they will be prepared to become the leaders that are required develop new economies and enduring civil societies.
We must meaningfully grow our endowment, including a substantial endowment for research, and for each of the faculties. An endowment provides investment income in perpetuity and is critical to ensure financial stability and security for the university.
In connection with scholarly growth, we must make significant investments in infrastructure, technology, and new buildings, as the number of students attending has nearly doubled over the past fifteen years. We intend to build a new world class Student Union in the heart of campus, such that it becomes the center of an abundant student life.
As part of an enriched educational experience, we intend to develop a world-class Performing Arts Center to highlight our enormous cultural contributions and to further highlight the magnificent common culture that brings our peoples together. Through this, we can further highlight the matchless Zaki Nassif Program for Music, which AUB has brought back to life through performances of the preeminent Lebanese composer’s archives. It will also allow the public to share in AUB’s outstanding fine arts collections, which include the works of seminal artists such as Khalil Salibi. In doing so, we intend to effect a cultural transformation in our students’ education.