A NAME
THAT LASTS

                          Alumni and friends of AUC have left lasting
                          marks on the New Cairo Campus, naming spaces
                          for themselves and the people they hold dear

    Names like Ewart, Jameel, Hill and Howard resonate with alumni of different generations. The Tahrir Square Campus is filled with examples of places named by donors as a way of supporting the university. These spaces carry the names of individuals or corporations as a result of their monetary contributions to the university. For example, Ewart Hall was named by a visitor to AUC who offered a gift of $100,000 to name the auditorium after her grandfather William Dana Ewart, who had visited Egypt in the past for health reasons. Howard Theater, inaugurated in 1956,was remodeled through alumni donations raised in honor of C.Worth Howard, former dean of the faculty of arts and sciences.

     At the New Cairo Campus, the naming tradition continues.Alumni, friends and corporations have named spaces ranging from buildings, departments, classrooms, laboratories and lecture halls to courtyards, benches, trees and fountains.What’s new, however, is the prevalence of Arab names on the New Cairo Campus.These include Moataz Al Alfi Hall, Mohamed Shafik Gabr Lecture Hall, Bassily Auditorium, Mansour Group Lecture Hall, Abdul Latif Jameel Hall and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Hall.

    “The New Cairo Campus offers a renewed opportunity for the university’s dedicated supporters to give to AUC,” said Moataz Al Alfi, vice chairman of AUC’s Board of Trustees.“It is wonderful to see the diversity of the university’s supporters reflected in the names on so many of the spaces on the New Cairo Campus.The mix of American and Arab names is a testament to the deep belief shared by so many supporters in the United States and the Arab world in AUC’s vital role in educating leaders.” The following are examples of named spaces on the New Cairo Campus and the stories behind them.

Malak Gabr Arts Theater

     Mohamed Shafik Gabr ’73, chairman and managing director of ARTOC Group for Investment and Development, is a self-made man.As an undergraduate, he didn’t have the financial means to support his education.“Back then,my late father agreed to pay my first year’s fees only; after that, I was on my own,” he said. “It was a challenge financially, but I knew that the struggle would be worth it.”

    Gabr received his bachelor’s in economics and management from AUC and a master’s in economics from the University of London. He recently received the Corporate Social Responsibility Award, the highest honor conferred by the Foreign Policy Association, a nonprofit organization committed to motivating the American public to learn more about the world. In 2008, he was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award from AUC.“If someone would have told me back then, when I received a scholarship and was paid LE 30 a month, that I would be here today, receiving an acknowledgement from the Board of Trustees and the president, I would not have believed it,” said Gabr upon receiving the award. “But this is what AUC is all about –– dreams, aspirations and world-class learning that has educated generations of leaders before me.”

    As a form of gratitude to AUC, Gabr named the Mohamed Shafik Gabr Department of Economics, Mohamed Shafik Gabr Lecture Hall and ARTOC Central Athletics Court. He also named the Malak Gabr Arts Theater at the AUC Center for the Arts for his daughter Malak.

    Gabr is chairman of ARTOC holding, which has 21 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. Gabr is also chairman of Egypt’s International Economic Forum and co-chair of the Arab Global Forum. He serves on the advisory board of the Center of International Studies at MIT and is a member of many professional organizations, including the Council of 100 Leaders and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. Gabr is also founder of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt and served as its first Egyptian president from 1995 to 1997. In addition, he is chairman of the Mohamed Shafik Gabr Foundation for Social Development, whose programs in greater Cairo include establishing schools, supporting literacy programs, training in language and information technology skills, and endorsing sports programs for youth.

Abdul Latif Jameel Hall

    Yousef Jameel ’68 officially inaugurated the Abdul Latif Jameel Hall on the New Cairo Campus, carrying forward a tradition he began when he first named, more than two decades ago, the Jameel Center on AUC’s Tahrir Square Campus in honor of his father, who was a great believer in education.

    Yousef Jameel is a prominent Saudi Arabian business leader, philanthropist, long-time university supporter and devoted alumnus. “AUC’s future has great potential, especially in the field of science, engineering and business, which will benefit Egypt and the region,” said Jameel, who described the vast facilities and operations of the New Cairo Campus as “very functional, beautiful and impressive.”

    The Abdul Latif Jameel Hall houses the programs, centers and facilities of the School of Business and the School of Public Affairs, as well as the International Executive Education Institute.Three-stories high, the building occupies a total area of 16,750 square meters and features a number of conference rooms, faculty offices, teaching laboratories and training rooms. Jameel has also established the Yousef Jameel Science and Technology Research Center, which conducts cutting-edge research in nanotechnology. In 2004, he also founded the Jameel MBA Fellows Program to help train future industrial leaders. In addition, he established an endowed professorship in his father’s name in the management department.

    In recent years, he has concentrated efforts on research and development for the good of humanity. In Germany, he initiated scientific research in fields such as cancer treatment, X-ray optics technology and nanotechnology. He is the main founder of the Freiburg cancer institute in Germany. He has also given a substantial benefaction to create the Yousef Jameel Online Centre for the Study of Islamic and Eastern Art, which helps to broaden public access to the museum’s renowned collection of Eastern art. In addition, he has funded research and development of the advanced firefighting technology in Germany.

    Jameel’s remarkable career began as a young graduate working for his father’s Toyota auto agency in Jeddah. He was instrumental in turning the company into the sole agent for Toyota in Saudi Arabia. Today, his family owns an international company headquartered in Dubai, specialized in high technology and innovation. Jameel was the first AUC graduate to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1981. In 2008, he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from AUC in recognition of his outstanding achievements and his valuable contribution and support of research and development.

Louis Greiss Courtyard in Abdul Latif Jameel Hall

Inscription: In honor of Louis Greiss, prominent writer and editor, given in gratitude by his roommate from America 1952 - 1953
    
“I was an exchange student at AUC from Occidental College in Los Angeles for the 1952 - 1953 academic year. Louis Greiss was one of my roommates. Louis was a very good friend who was very gracious in his welcome.

     While we were roommates, Louis was selected by the Coptic Church to represent them at an international youth event in India. He needed the permission of the patriarch to attend the meeting. During his visit, he told the patriarch that his American roommate was considering becoming a Presbyterian minister, and I was given a set of prayer beads, which I still have on my desk, and was blessed by the patriarch.

    I have included AUC in my will and when I learned that it would be possible to name something in Louis’s honor, I decided to give some of what I had intended to leave to AUC upon my death. Since Louis became a leading journalist in Egypt, I was excited to be told that I could name a courtyard in or near the journalism school in his honor as a way of expressing my gratitude to him. It was my way of telling him that I had not forgotten him.”

Reverend Richard A. Lundy (YAB ’53)

Rasheed and Carla Hosein Tree

Inscription: Rasheed and Carla Hosein Met at AUC - June 14, 1996

    “The tree dedication was actually an eighth anniversary present to ourselves.We were both at AUC as part of the summer study-abroad program, he for Arabic language and myself for Egyptology. As he is from Canada and I’m from Florida,we joke that we had to go halfway around the world to meet. But, needless to say,we both had an enjoyable and memorable summer.We stayed in touch after that and actually got married exactly one year later. Donating a tree was our way of remembering our beginnings and also of giving something lasting to AUC, a place to which we owe so much.”

Carla Hosein (YAB ’96)

Henkel Egypt platform and classrooms

    “The named spaces provide good exposure for Henkel because of the amount of students going in and out of classes and the platform serving as a potential spot for student activities.The ultimate aim is to create a continuous relationship with the university, strengthening our connection and supporting the quality education that AUC provides.”

Ashraf El Afifi ’91, chairman of Henkel Egypt
and vice president of Henkel laundry
and home care division in the Middle Eas
t and North African region

    MORE NAMES ON CAMPUS

    • The Heikal Department of Management was named by Ahmed M. Heikal, chairman of Citadel Capital and        son of Mohammed Hassanein Heikal, one of Egypt’s leading journalists and a respected commentator on        Arab affairs for more than 50 years

    • Colleagues and friends named a group study room in the AUC Library for E.H.Valsan, who worked for 36        years as professor of public administration and served as director of the Master of Public Administration        program since its establishment in 1985

    • The 2002 - 2003 Student Union named the Student Union Office in the Campus Center because of their        belief in AUC’s extracurricular activities, particularly the Student Union

    • The Squyres family named the Campus Center recreation room “in loving memory of Irene Manias Squyres        ’84, wife, mother, yaya and sister”

    • Mohammed Hassan Fayek ’01 named a tree “in honor of my loving parents who taught me the true value        of knowledge, which I will gratefully pass on to my beloved children”

    • Nevine Farouk Rateb named a tree in honor of Sir K.A.C. Creswell, renowned historian of Islamic art and        architecture who taught at AUC for almost two decades and who donated his library, photographs and        personal papers to the university