Encouraging tomorrow’s business leaders
Fransabank establishes the Adnan Kassar Annual Scholarship Grant to support business students at LAU
![[photo]](adnan-kassar-donation-01-big.jpg)
Dr. Jabbra (left) and Dr. Kassar at the signing ceremony.
Click on photo above for larger version.
Fransabank has established a scholarship fund to support deserving students at LAU.
At a ceremony on March 12 to announce the scholarship, the bank made a generous initial $60,000 donation toward the Adnan Kassar Annual Scholarship Grant. The scholarship fund will support the tuition of ten needy and academically gifted students enrolled at the School of Business.
“We are proud to encourage an institution like LAU and through it to serve our country’s future generations,” said Dr. Adnan Kassar, chairman and major shareholder of Fransabank. He made the donation together with his brother Adel, the bank’s deputy chairman and CEO.
Kassar referred to the impressive numbers of LAU graduates he saw at last year’s commencement ceremony, saying he hoped they would resist the trend to emigrate and could instead prosper in Lebanon.
Thanking Fransabank, LAU President Dr. Joseph G. Jabbra said the scholarship would “help the dreams of needy students come true.” Both LAU and Fransabank share a vision of “empowering the youth of Lebanon, our country’s only hope in an unstable region,” he added.
Kassar praised the university’s efforts to educate the next generation of business leaders, saying he hoped Fransabank’s scholarship grant would inspire others in the banking sector to follow suit with donations of their own. “I am confident that many will,” he said.
Minister of trade and economics between 2004 and 2005, Kassar was awarded an honorary doctorate by LAU in 2008. He served as chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce from 1999 to 2000, during which time he worked with the United Nations to create the Global Compact, a framework that encourages companies to adhere to socially and environmentally responsible business practices.
LAU is committed to increasing the funds available for financial aid. This year it has provided $15 million in financial assistance to around 30 percent of the student body. As part of its 2011-2016 Strategic Plan, the university has committed to increasing those figures on an annual basis.
Jabbra lauded the Kassar family’s commitment to philanthropy and educational development, saying their support stemmed from a firm “belief in Lebanon.”
Established in 1921, Fransabank is the oldest bank in Lebanon, with assets worth over $14 billion.
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