Empowerment through education: a path to a more abundant Lebanon

As I write this article, eight years have passed since I committed to return to Lebanon as the 16th president of the American University of Beirut (AUB). Over the last three years, I have been frequently asked whether I regret leaving my academic career and surrendering two endowed chairs at Emory University in the United States, where I led a thriving department of hematology and medical oncology that was among the finest of its kind anywhere and planned the long-term research and sustainability strategies of both the US National Cancer Institute designated Winship Cancer Institute and top tier Emory University School of Medicine. My answer has been consistently the same. I have no regrets other than missing our son’s college years at Emory, and I am more confident in the future of AUB than I have ever been. In fact, I see more clearly the path forward for the development