Director of the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement
Member at the Institute for Gender and Women's Studies

Barbara Ibrahim is founding director of the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, established in 2006 at the American University in Cairo. Prior to that she served for 14 years as regional director for West Asia and North Africa of the Population Council. From 1982 to 1990, she was a program officer at the Ford Foundation regional office in Cairo, responsible for programs in urban poverty, micro-enterprise lending, and gender studies. In 1990, she was a senior research associate at the Center for the Study of Philanthropy, City University of New York. She has an MA in sociology from the American University of Beirut (1975) and a Ph.D. in sociology from Indiana University (1980). Her publications are in the fields of women’s employment, youth transitions to adulthood, gender and health, and Arab philanthropy. In 1999, she was inducted into the International Educators’ Hall of Fame. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Middle East Women’s Studies in 2003.

Research Interests

• Women’s Employment
• Youth Transitions to Adulthood
• Gender and Health
• Arab Philanthropy

Honors & Awards

• 2003: Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Middle East Women’s Studies
• 1999: International Educators’ Hall of Fame

Education

• 1980: Ph.D., Indiana University
• 1975: MA.,  American University of Beirut