Georges Abi-Saab, an internationally recognized legal scholar, delivered the address at AUC’s Fall 2009 graduate commenecemnt. Abi-Saab focused his remarks on the benefits of a university education and the ways in which those benefits can be utilized. He explained that along with tangible benefits like increased knowledge, AUC graduates have upgraded their intellectual profile by learning how to reason and use good judgment. He added, though, “That is not enough if the framework is wanting; you must develop an idea of what should be done for your country, speak it, stand for it and, if necessary, fight for it.”
Abi-Saab is an eminent and internationally renowned Egyptian-born jurist and scholar who most recently served as a member and former chairman of the appellate body of the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
During the ceremony, President David D. Arnold spoke about the increasing number of master’s students at AUC. “Whereas graduate degrees used to constitute less than 10 percent of the total number of diplomas conferred by AUC, last year they accounted for 25 percent of the total,” he explained. He added that the recent inauguration of the Graduate School of Education, the School of Business, and the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy -- each offering graduate-level programs – was prompted by the growing interest in advanced degrees by AUC students and others across the region.
In recognition of a faculty member who through scholarship and creativity has greatly contributed to academic life, Provost Lisa Anderson presented the Excellence in Research and Creative Endeavors award to Professor Mahmoud El Lozy in the Department of Performing and Visual Arts.
