A home for the health sciences
LAU formally inaugurates the Chagoury Health Sciences Center in Byblos.
The Chagoury Health Sciences Center is already a landmark of the Byblos campus.
The Chagourys joined Dr. Jabbra in laying the lead box.
The Chagourys made the single largest donation in LAU’s history. Here they stand along with the deans of the three schools and other LAU officials.
Chagoury said he was confident that the three schools will soon become regional leaders in health science education.
LAU formally inaugurated the long-awaited Chagoury Health Sciences Center at the Byblos campus on March 31.
The state-of-the-art new building, which opened to students at the beginning of the semester, was made possible by Ambassador Gilbert Chagoury and his wife, Rose-Marie. Their extraordinary gift of $13.5 million is the largest single donation to LAU in the university’s history.
The center is home to the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine, the Alice Ramez Chagoury School of Nursing and the School of Pharmacy. Already a landmark of the Byblos campus, the ultra-modern 15,500 square meter complex will serve as a key LAU education and research facility, merging cutting edge anatomy and biomedical research laboratories with classrooms, lecture halls, computer labs and student lounges.
The six-story building is also home to one of the Arab world’s finest clinical skills and simulation centers. The center’s full-body mannequin simulators are a key learning tool for students at all three schools. Capable of simulating physiological changes such as a loss of pulse, a sudden drop in blood pressure or pupil dilation, the mannequins can be used to simulate a range of scenarios including injections, labor, heart attacks or stab wounds. LAU has been a regional pioneer in using simulation technology in teaching the health sciences and aspires to play a regional role in healthcare education by also providing training to practicing doctors, pharmacists and nurses.
In addition, the Chagoury Health Sciences Center has been designed to support opportunities for collaboration among scholars and students from across the health disciplines, complementing the dedication to interprofessional education advanced by the three school curriculums.
Built in collaboration with Partners Harvard Medical International, the center is dedicated to Ambassador Gilbert Chagoury and his wife Rose-Marie. Chagoury is a distinguished businessman, diplomat and philanthropist of Lebanese-Nigerian nationality. In 1971, he founded the Chagoury Group, one of Africa’s leading industrial conglomerates.
“We are so happy you are in our midst and to be dedicating the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury Health Sciences Center in both of your names today,” said LAU President Joseph G. Jabbra at the inauguration on March 31.
“Your generosity has opened up opportunities for young Lebanese to get the best medical, nursing and pharmacy education without religious, political or ethnic discrimination. We have full confidence that this health sciences center will become a beacon of excellence raising the name of LAU and Lebanon throughout the world in service of young people and our fellow human beings.”
Addressing the audience, Chagoury noted his pride in being part of LAU’s remarkable expansion into a regional destination for premier health sciences education. “Allow me to quote the great Roman author Cicero, who said that ‘In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health’ to others. Let us be committed to that ideal. I am confident that the success of the Schools of Medicine and Nursing will extend beyond the borders of Lebanon and provide the world community with doctors and nurses with a degree of excellence that is second to none.”
Prominent officials, politicians and diplomats, including former Minister Nazem Khoury representing President of the Republic of Lebanon General Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Tamam Salam, Randa Berri representing Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and Chagoury’s mother Alice Ramez Chagoury attended the inauguration. A lead box installation and tour of the premises preceded the ceremony, which began with a short documentary reflecting the development of the center and culminated in the unveiling of the inaugural plaque.
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