Impact Stories

AUB alumnus Hassan Fouani (BE ’16) explains that the family’s holding, the Fouani Group, was already helping many students attend universities in Lebanon, including AUB. “I thought that if we institutionalized these relationships, it would promote transparency and enable us to help more students. I know how AUB handles its funds and that the money that is given for financial aid benefits the students,” he says. So, he got in touch with Associate Vice President for Development Walid Katergi.

“We are very grateful to donors like the Fouani family who recognize the urgent need and the difference that financial aid can make in a student’s life,” says Katergi. Although he did not receive financial aid himself, Hassan is one of those people who appreciates the impact of financial aid. “Because of my time at AUB, I fully understand the importance of providing financial aid,” he says.

Hassan explains that his father and uncles, who were successful business owners at a young age, also appreciate and recognize the importance of a university education as a foundation for success. “Growing up in South Lebanon and moving to Africa in their teenage years, my father and uncles worked to provide our generation with so many opportunities that they were not able to enjoy,” Hassan says.

Establishing the Fouani Family Scholarship at AUB, a current scholarship fund that supports students pursuing undergraduate degrees in the sciences, business, engineering, or a graduate degree in medicine, “is especially meaningful to all of us,” says Hassan, “because it is a family initiative. We are looking forward to a long-term relationship supporting students at AUB.”