A Young Institution Three Centuries Old

LAU is now poised to celebrate its centennial in 2024 as it was officially born as an institution of higher learning in 1924. This, however, is only part of its history, which goes back to 1835 when Sarah Smith founded the first school for girls in what was then the Ottoman Empire. That school metamorphosed through several iterations to become the comprehensive university it is today. As such, LAU has been around, in one form or another, for about 190 years spanning three centuries and four different institutional upgrades. It is a living example of tradition tempered by modernity, devotion galvanized by vitality, and identity reinforced by an evolving dynamic mission. Above all else, it is a great story of steady growth, constant self-renewal, and continuous improvement long before the term became fashionable.

Building Excellence Through Harnessing Polarities

One of LAU greatest achievements over its long history is building a self-renewing culture that can harmonize and synergize polarities. A long list of polarities appeared gradually with the passage of time. They were all harnessed to help the institution move to the next level. Among them was keeping the spirit of the small college it was in a large comprehensive university, and retaining the culture of care and individualized attention long after we crossed the threshold of size that usually allows for this. LAU managed as well to retain the ethos of a liberal arts college while becoming a hub for major professional schools including medicine, pharmacy, nursing, engineering, business and architecture. LAU continues to have a big heart and a brain to match coupled with the purity of our early years as we acquire a different size and move to the post-digital age.

We cherish our academic traditions but we have set example after example in embracing change. Combining the best of the old and the new is the magic LAU blend our 50,000+ alumni cherish with great affection. Our approach is personalized yet highly institutionalized, rigorous yet humane, dogged in our pursuit of excellence without ever losing sight of the moral imperatives that make us who we are. In a word, our polarities work well together because our culture is strong enough to blend them and channel them toward serving our mission. The ease with which two major medical centers were integrated into the university is a case in point. Both centers now provide personalized healthcare for thousands of patients with compassion. Needless to say, this care is delivered with the highest standards of medical science.

Then, Now, and Onward 

The institution was a school in its formative years, a two-year college in its infancy, a four-year college for girls in its youth, and a coed college in its early years of maturity. It transitioned into a major research-active comprehensive university as it started approaching the last decade of the 20th century. By then, it had already embraced an ambitious agenda based on best practices in higher education and global norms of excellence. The transition was so smooth that it almost went unnoticed.

The strength and self-confidence LAU derives from its history is hard to overstate. The past gives us a strong sense of purpose, an incentive to keep up with, and improve our record in addition to a sense of perspective that guides our vision.

A University for the 21st Century

As LAU prepares to celebrate its first hundred years, it has already put in place the infrastructure for the next 100. It has two state-of-the-art campuses in Beirut and Byblos, a micro campus in Manhattan, and plans for campuses in the region. It also has a full litany of accreditations, and two world-class medical centers. Add to this a healthy endowment, robust research output, and strong professional networks all over the world. Governance and management are provided through a dedicated Board and an administration reflecting the finest academic management standards.

The University is aware, however, that much will depend on how we put our academic infrastructure to work in terms of priorities. Based on this solid reality, our priorities for the next period are as follows:

At the Academic and Professional Levels: 

1. Launching new majors relevant to the post-digital world to produce future-proof graduates ready to navigate the new landscape.

2. Continuing to upgrade our research output not only in terms of basic research, but also in terms of applied research leading to solutions as well.

3. Enhancing our industry ties through our newly created industrial park.

4. Investing in our faculty to combat attrition and build a talent pool commensurate with our strategic plan.

5. Enriching our student life with better facilities and services

6. Adapting our academic programs to the age of open AI applications

7. Upgrading our delivery strategies to make them more learner-centered.

8. Turning the university into a learning community.

9. Placing the highest emphasis on critical thinking and the acquisition of lifelong learning skills. 

10. Amplifying the importance of experiential learning every opportunity we get.

Our biggest test at this level is the test of relevance. Are we keeping up with the expectations and needs of the millennials and offering them what they require for the future they will live and work in? This question calls for the kind of soul-searching that institutions find hard to do by virtue of inertia and the power of habit. We will be addressing it head-on. 

At the Resource Sustainability Level:

After a century of experience, LAU is all too aware that its business model requires serious rethinking. Over-dependence on tuition revenue is no longer tenable and alternative revenue streams need to be identified and tapped. This is a challenge facing all major private universities and even some public ones as well. It is not unique to LAU but we are now at a juncture where we have to come to terms with this reality and address it. Supplementary revenue streams will have to be generated through links with industry, through extramural grants, through fundraising, and through revenue-earning activities involving marshalling our expertise in the growing knowledge economy sector. The prevailing business model has served us well for a considerable stretch of time. It can be credited with many of our past successes but has by now outlived its useful life and needs to be seriously augmented. This is another major task on our agenda for the short-term future. 

At the Branding level:

Branding is a newcomer to the university scene and many of us are still not used to dealing with it methodically and consistently. It is connected to how we are positioned vis-a-vis the outside world either as one whole institution or in terms of individual schools. This positioning is partly evidence-based and partly perception-based. The evidence part has to do with such factors as ranking, research output, admission ratio, alumni status, etc. There is, however, a perception-related part having to do with soft impressions and pre-conceived ideas prevailing in the immediate or far-removed relevant community (ies). LAU is acutely mindful of this fact and working on further reinforcing its brand as a top-tier university locally, regionally and internationally. The two sides of our brand are academic standing and our position as a healthcare provider.

Onward to the Future 

As LAU starts preparing for celebrating its first hundred years, it is aware of the fact that the past will prove to be easier than what is to come. We know how much the world has changed and how different the new challenges are going to be. We are equally aware that success can beget failure without the creative adaptive spirit of great institutions; we know that the box is no longer and thinking has to be as agile as it takes in a world that can easily outpace even the best among us. We are upbeat but sober, proud but humble, confident but alert, and optimistic but cautious. The prelude to our anniversary and the event itself is an opportunity for us to rededicate ourselves to the core values of American higher education and invest in our institutional learning curve, which is bound to become steeper and faster.

In the coming days, LAU will be working on a whole program of anniversary activities as part of our rites of passage to a new era.