Board of Trustees

Mr. Al-Nouri was Minister of Finance in Kuwait from 2003 to 2005. He currently holds several posts including Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Syrian Holding Company in Kuwait and of the UBAF Bank in Hong Kong, as well as Chairman of the Board of Kuwaiti Investors Association in Syria; he also chairs the Abdalbaqi Al Nouri Charity. Mr. Al-Nouri previously was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gulf Bank in Kuwait (2012-2013), the Arab African International Bank in Egypt (2005-2014) and the Kuwait Public Transport Company (1998-2003).

Dr. Karami – Akkary currently serves as the Minister of Education and Higher Education in Lebanon. She is an Associate Professor in Educational Administration, Policy, and Leadership in the Department of Education at the American University of Beirut. She also previously served as the Head of the Department of Education at the American University of Beirut (AUB). She holds a Bachelor in Science, Diploma for teaching science at the secondary level, Master of Arts in Science Education from the American University of Beirut (AUB), and a Doctorate in Education from Portland State University with a specialty in [K-12] Educational Administration and Supervision with a focus on school principalship, organizational change and educational policy.

Dr. Stephan is a professor of Information and Libraries Sciences at the Lebanese University. She holds a doctorate in Education from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, a postgraduate degree in Information and Documentation, and a master’s degree in Philosophy.

Dr. El Amine holds a Doctorate in Sociology of Education (1977) and a “Doctorat d’État en letters” (1991) from the Sorbonne University – Paris. He was full professor of education at the Lebanese University and lecturer at the American University of Beirut. He worked as UNESCO consultant on higher education. At present, he is a senior fellow and consultant of education and youth at Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI – AUB).

Ms. Chebani is currently employed as Associate University Librarian in American University of Beirut Libraries (AUB) after 9 years of experience as Systems Librarian at AUB Libraries as well. She has previously served as the Chief Librarian and Head of the Department of Information & Scientific Documentation in the Arab Atomic Energy Agency within the framework of the League of Arab States from 1992 to 2002.

Dr. Hilal is assistant professor and program director of the Master in Educational Leadership at the Sydney School of Education and Social Work (SSESW) at the University of Sydney – Australia. She had previously been a faculty member at the College of Education in Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat and in the department of education at the American University of Beirut. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Leicester, UK, and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from McGill University, Canada.

Dr. Al-Ebraheem is Chairman of the Board of the Kuwait Society for the Advancement of Arab Children, a post he has held since 1980. He is a former Minister of Education in Kuwait. He has taught several courses in the Faculty of Commerce, Economics and Political Science at Kuwait University since 1975 and was rector of the University from 1975 to 1980.

Dr. Abouchedid holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom (1997). He was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Applied Sciences at Amity University-Dubai (2022-2023) and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) (2014-2022). Currently, he is Professor of Education and Director of the Center for Applied Research in Education at NDU. He is the President of the Lebanese Association for Educational Studies (LAES).

Dr. Ambusaidi is a professor of Science Education and is currently Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Education in the Sultanate of Oman. He previously worked at Sultan Qaboos University as director of the Center for Humanitarian Research, Dean of the Deanship of Postgraduate Studies, Assistant Dean of the College of Education for University Studies, and Head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the College of Education. He holds a doctorate from the University of Glasgow in 2000 in the field of science teaching.

Dr. Beblawi served as Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and former Finance Minister in Egypt, following the January 25 Revolution in 2011. He graduated with an honorary degree from the faculty of Law, Cairo University in 1957, and received postgraduate diplomas in political economy, general law and economic sciences from Cairo University, Egypt and the University of Grenoble, France. He then earned his PhD in economic sciences from the University of Paris.

Dr. Bennani is currently Permanent Delegate of the Kingdom of Morocco to UNESCO and has been since 1999 a member of the Executive Board of the Organization. She served for three years as president of the Board. She is a university professor and holds a doctorate in Spanish literature from the Mohammed V University in Rabat and a “Doctorat d’État” in Hispanic literature from the University of Paris X. She has authored many literary works and was Dean of the Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences of the Mohamedia Hassan II University in Morocco.

Dr. Al-Busaidi is a professor of English as a foreign language at the College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Sultanate of Oman. He received his BA in TEFL at Sultan Qaboos University in 1995, his MA in TEFL at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom in 1997, and his PhD in curriculum studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA in 2003. He is currently the dean of the College of Education at SQU.

Dr. Fayzah Al Khurafi is Emeritus professor of Physical Chemistry at Kuwait University. She is the first woman to have been awarded the status of a cabinet minister in Kuwait and the Arab Gulf states, and also the first woman president of Kuwait University—and indeed of any university in Kuwait or the Middle East. She established the first corrosion research laboratory and the first catalysis research laboratory. She was awarded the “Tho-Al-Weshah” Award, the highest order award granted in Kuwait, by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait.

Ms. Baasiri is currently the Director-General of the Rafic Hariri Foundation. She was, until recently, Secretary-General of the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO, a post she occupied for several years. She is a graduate in Economics from the American University of Beirut. Mrs. Baasiri started her career as a researcher in econometrics.

Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Arts, Helwan University. He obtained his Master’s (1999) and Ph.D. (2005) from Helwan University. He supervised the Sociology Department at the Faculty of Arts, New Valley University (2018–2019) and was Acting Head of the Sociology Department at the Faculty of Arts at Helwan University (2021–2023). Dr. Abdel Fattah worked as a consultant for monitoring, evaluation, and research at Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity and managed the Presidential Initiative “Decent Life” (Dec 2019–July 2021).

Dr. Osman was Director of UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States and UNESCO’s representative in Lebanon and Syria for five years up to the end of 2011. Since 2006 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Open University. He is holder of a B.A. in Philosophy, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Education from the University of London’s Institute of Education in the UK.

Dr. Ghusayni lectures in the Department of Education at the American University of Beirut, and is a former Chairman of the Department. He has served as director of the Division of Education and Extension Programs and of the Career Guidance Center at the University, as well as director of the Educational Resources Center at International College in Beirut. He is a co-founder of the International School of London and served as its headmaster for eight years.

Mrs. Kassab is currently a licensed Rapid Transformational Therapy®️ (RTT®️) Practitioner. She started her career as a teacher and an influencer. Then, she joined Rearden Educational’s Concept Bookstore to soon become the company’s managing director. She served as a seasoned senior educational consultant passionate about the role of education in the Middle East and consulted for various NGOs and academic institutions in Lebanon.

Mr. Al-Nouri was Minister of Education and Higher Education from 1986 to 1990, and Minister of Health from 1996 to 1997 in Kuwait. He occupied the position of Secretary-General of Kuwait University from 1966 until 1978; prior to that he had served as the cultural attaché at the Embassy of Kuwait in London. Since 1980 he has been the managing partner for the Arab Information Management Services. He was the chairman of Global Investment House from 1997 to 2007, and chairman and managing director of the Industrial Bank of Kuwait from 1978 to 1986.

Dr. Hamed Al Hamami is the Director of UNESCO Regional Office in Beirut and UNESCO Representative for Lebanon and Syria since February 2012. He joined UNESCO in 2004 as a Director for the Doha Cluster Office and UNESCO Representative for the Gulf States and Yemen. Dr. Al Hamami has a Ph.D. degree in “Educational Policies and Management” from Birmingham University, UK.