New academic hires add value to LAU’s teaching
Twenty-nine faculty members join LAU, for a new year of academic excellence.
The essence of any institution lies in its ability to attract and retain bright minds. This year’s group of newly-hired academic experts was welcomed at the first University Orientation Meeting for New Faculty at the LAU Beirut campus on August 28. In his welcome speech, Provost George K. Najjar remarked on LAU’s goal of seeking the best academic teaching staff and on the university’s commitment to “capitalize on the assets that each one of you is bringing in.”
LAU’s determination to maximize staff potential is what led Dr. Abeer Hani to join its ranks. “I would like to create an epilepsy monitoring unit,” she says. “LAU was the most supportive among the universities I interviewed with.” She acquired her expertise in pediatric neurology and epilepsy at Duke University in the US, an institution where she still has an adjunct position and with which she envisages LAU will have the opportunity to collaborate for the purpose of academic research.
President Joseph G. Jabbra also welcomed the new faculty members by reminding them of the fundamental role played by education in shaping the people of the future. His words stroke a chord in all those devoting their life to teaching, in particular Dr. Mahmoud Natout, whose very field of research is the meaning of teaching, which he studies from the philosophical and anthropological perspectives.
“I like to explore critical pedagogy and find new innovative ways of teaching, especially with regards to humanities,” says Natout, who earned a Ph.D. at Oxford University after having been himself a student at LAU. “My goal here will be to experience first hand how students react to the teaching and to develop best practices accordingly.”
Also an LAU alumna, Mona Mrad decided to return to the institution after having completed a Ph.D. in marketing of fashion at the University of Manchester. Her objective is to teach students how to sell their brands on an array of different markets. But her decision to join LAU was emotional, as well as rational. “I feel home at LAU,” she says.
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