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A Warm Welcome to Our New Faculty

Celeste Abourjeili September 18, 2024
University News

Welcome to our newest faculty members joining us this fall! The incoming faculty are bringing their diverse backgrounds and varied research interests to AUC, with studies ranging from development economics to archival ethics to Mamluk manuscript culture, and everything in between. We’re happy to welcome them to the University and get to know them through their video introductions.

A headshot of a veiled woman

Dina Mahmoud ’19

Assistant Professor

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Research Interests: Computer hardware, specifically hardware security of heterogeneous computing platforms

"In the future, I plan to further explore systems design while still guaranteeing their hardware security."

A headshot of a veiled woman

Mai Mahmoud

Postdoctoral Fellow

J-Pal MENA

Research Interests: Development, agriculture and resource economics

"In development economics, I’m doing applied microeconomic research to study the impact of randomized interventions on the livelihood of people living in low-income or developing countries."

A headshot of a man

Karim Banawan

Assistant Professor

Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering

Research Interests: Wireless communication, information theory

"My specialties are communication engineering, wireless communication and physical layer, security and privacy. And recently, I got into machine learning in communication."

 

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Yasmine Eissa '05, '09

Assistant Professor

Mohamed Shafik Gabr Department of Economics

Research Interests: Global value chains

"I’m researching the effect of international interlinkages on labor market outcomes and other development milestones like innovation."

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Yasmine Elkhateeb

Postdoctoral Fellow

J-Pal MENA

Research Interests: Development, gender and migration economics

"My recent research looked at the impact of male migration on female labor force participation in Egypt."

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Jason Myrick

Associate Professor of Practice and Associate Director of Digital Education

Center for Learning and Teaching

Research Interests: Online and blended learning, AI in education

"My fields of interest are instructional design, educational technology, quality assurance, and online and distance education."

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Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Day

Assistant University Archivist for Records Management

Libraries and Learning Technologies

Research Interests: Integrated records management programs, archival ethics, open access and legislated documentary obligation

“At the start, I really loved puzzles. So I thought, how can I translate my love of puzzles into something more professional? That’s how I ended up working in archives.”

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Noha Abou-Khatwa ’98, ’01

Assistant Professor of Islamic art and Architecture

Sheikh Hassan Abbas Sharbatly Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations

Research Interests: Arabic calligraphy, manuscript illumination, art and architecture of Egypt and the Persian world

"My main research interests are the manuscript culture, architecture, and intellectual life of the Medieval Muslim world with a focus on the Mamluks."

A headshot of a man

Sebastian Ille

Associate Professor

Mohamed Shafik Gabr Department of Economics

Research Interests: Institutions, social dynamics, migration and chaos theory

"I’m what you might consider a heterodox economist; I’m looking at alternative approaches to economics, working with social scientists and anthropologists. In addition to looking at institutions and groups, I’m interested in understanding why people do what they do, how individual behavior is defined, how individuals act as a larger part of society and how society evolves."

A headshot of a woman

José Galán

William K. Simpson and Marilyn M. Simpson Visiting Professor in Egyptology

Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology

Research Interests: Egyptology, archaeology and ancient history

"When I first came to Egypt, I fell in love — not only with the ancient monuments but also with the people and the landscape. Soon after, I decided that this was my life, that I wanted to be an Egyptologist. Now, I have been running an excavation down in Luxor for 23 years where we have discovered all sorts of amazing things. We have flower bouquets that were used as a farewell to the deceased 3,000 years ago, among other everyday objects. That’s why I wanted to become an Egyptologist; we share so much in common with the ancient Egyptians."

A headshot of a woman

Nermine Said '00

Associate Professor of Practice

Department of the Arts

“I’m coming from a professional background as a costume designer and am entering academia as a new beginning. I made the switch because I love engaging with students and I love the human element in teaching.”

A woman is smiling and crossing her arms

Aya Musmar

Assistant Professor

Department of Architecture

Research Interests: Displacement and refugee camps, subversive aesthetics in art and architecture, critical heritage studies

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 With a first-place finish, Yara Ebeltagi, finance major with a minor in economics; Malak Elshennawy, finance major with a minor in economics and mathematics; and Joudy Aly, business and entrepreneurship major, made AUC proud at the Arab Fintech Challenge held at GITEX Dubai 2023. 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