Shawki Farag joined AUC as professor of Accounting in 1981. Prior to that, he was with the World Bank in Washington DC, working as a Country Economist, Senior Loan Officer, Resident Representative and Chief of Missions.

Farag conducted extensive macroeconomic and project analyses of most Eastern African countries and some countries in the Middle East. During his term with the World Bank, Farag also maintained an adjunct professorial position at the George Washington University in Washington DC.

After his return to Egypt and during the 1980s and the 1990s, Farag was involved as an advisor to the Egyptian Cabinet in the formulation of the economic reform program for Egypt and the multilateral and bilateral rescheduling of external public debts. He also developed the Egyptian Banking Institute, which is a landmark in the banking sector in Egypt in terms of its capacity and quality of training the banking sector staff. Farag also has been a board member of the biggest Egyptian bank and some major industrial companies. Farag has contributed a book and several articles in his field, all published in the US in the Leading Professional Periodicals.