Impact Stories

“I received financial support at AUB,” remembers Dr. Marwan Abouljoud (BS ’82, MD ’85), “so I know what it feels like to have to depend on the generosity of others.” Abouljoud recently established the Moustapha and Falak Abouljoud Scholarship, named for his parents, to support current medical students at AUB. “Especially during these difficult times, I think we all have to do what we can to pass it forward,” he says.

Abouljoud, who is currently the director and Benson Ford Chair of the Henry Ford Transplant Institute in Detroit, Michigan, knew from a very young age that education was the path to a better life. It was a lesson he learned from his father. “My father and uncles all worked in their dad’s grocery store. My father wanted more from life though, so he went to night school, was a teacher, and then joined the army. All of the money he made, he spent on his children’s education,” says Abouljoud. His father also helped his younger brothers enabling them to get an education as well. The impact was dramatic: “My father’s older brothers all worked in my grandfather’s grocery store. His younger brothers – the ones that my father helped to get an education – became engineers.”

His parents were determined to do everything they could to get their children the best possible education – and they did, but Abouljoud also needed scholarship support to attend IC – and later AUB. He worked hard as an undergraduate and was admitted to medical school but knew that the tuition was more than his parents could afford. He remembers the day he showed up to register for medical school. “I didn’t have any money and knew that my family could not afford the tuition, but I went anyway. I was sent to the Student Affairs Office,” he remembers, “and was sure that they would be asking me for my tuition. Instead, I was told that I was one of two medical students who had been selected to receive a full-tuition scholarship. I was shocked.” His mother was too.” When I got home and told her, she turned pale, dropped to the ground, and kissed the floor. You never forget a moment like that.”

Abouljoud speaks passionately and eloquently about the need to help current students. He also feels strongly that it’s important to help institutions like AUB. “Our lifespan on this planet is finite,” he explains, “but we need to be sure that institutions like AUB – that was there for the generations before us – will be around for the generations to come,” he says.

“During these challenging times, we are reaching out to our successful alumni who benefited from financial support themselves. It is very touching when someone like Dr. Marwan establishes a scholarship so that others can enjoy the AUB education that he values,” says Associate Vice President for Development Walid Katergi.