Olayan Group Chairman Khaled S. Olayan and Director Hutham S. Olayan attended a celebration May 5 marking accreditation of the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (OSB) at the American University of Beirut (AUB).  The following account of the event is based on a press report by AUB.


The Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut celebrated its newly-acquired AACSB accreditation at a dinner held in the Phoenicia InterContinental Hotel on May 5.  OSB is the first business school in Lebanon to achieve such accreditation, which it received officially on April 4.

Founded in 1916, AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International) is the longest-serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.

The event was attended by numerous prominent officials and academics, including Lebanon Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, himself an AUB alumnus and the evening's keynoter.

Praising AUB faculty and staff for this major milestone, Siniora said, "What they have achieved through this recognition is a source of great honor to all of us, as well as to many Lebanese and Arab students who are forever grateful to this business school and to AUB, the leading academic institution in the Middle East and the one that has been widely considered to be a beacon of excellence in liberal education and liberal thinking in the region.

"Just as Lebanon is more than a country, AUB is also more than an institution for higher education.  It is a way of life... an oasis that promotes democracy of ideas and allows a space for openness, tolerance, and mutual understanding.   AUB has always had a mission as an intellectual lighthouse that radiates not just in Lebanon, but throughout the Arab world and the Near East."

Siniora pledged that his cabinet will start preparing a decree to require accreditation for all Lebanese universities and hospitals.

Newly inaugurated AUB President Peter F. Dorman said, "All of us at AUB are enormously proud that the Olayan School has joined the ranks of the less than 5 percent of business schools worldwide that have earned AACSB international accreditation."

Dorman also announced the establishment of a $7-million fundraising campaign to endow the Olayan School of Business Global Fund.  The proceeds will support OSB's global activities and expand its existing relationships with partners like MIT's Sloan School of Management and Stanford University to launch research collaboration and student and faculty exchange.  

Dorman thanked the Olayan family for their "vision and strong support" and expressed pride in the partnership between AUB and this "esteemed family."  

AACSB International CEO and president John J. Fernandes noted that when he first arrived at AUB in 2003, there was still "a long way to go."  But the "dedication, leadership and enthusiasm" of the AUB team prevailed, making AUB one of only 567 universities in 33 countries to receive AACSB accreditation.

AUB Business Dean George Najjar commented, "We have worked for this accreditation for the past three years... It was an intensely personal project for each and every one of the 60 faculty and staff members at the Olayan School. This was our way of paying homage to a great past by ensuring a greater future."

AUB alumna and trustee Hutham Olayan likened the Olayan School of Business to a young child who is growing up fast. "There comes a time in the life of every parent when we forget about all the effort and worry, the sweat and tears, the bumps and bruises," she said. "There comes a time when our children become young adults.  We step back in amazement and say: ‘Masha' Allah, how did they grow up so fast?'  That's how it is with the Olayan School of Business."

She stated, "Today, the school is well on its way to fulfilling the original promise -- nothing less than to become the premier center of business education between Europe and the Far East.

"Tonight we celebrate a very important milestone on the road to that destination.  We should not underestimate the achievement.  Earning accreditation is the difference between competing in a national championship and playing in the World Cup."