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AUC Professor Blase Donadio decided on the spur of the moment to buy a car during his three-day stopover in Rome, managing to bring it back to AUC with him. When he arrived, he described the students' excitement: "The students were all agog to see the miracle car that was brought from Rome in six days. They immediately baptized her Zarifa, an all-inclusive name meaning anything from hellish to angelic. Decals were made by an art student to adorn the window and a woven red Zarifa doll to sit primly on the instrument panel."
 

Chonchette Youssef Rizkalla '63

"I remember a very funny [and] mischievous incident which took place during my sophomore year. It was a history class, and the teacher had some prejudice. She liked some students more than others, and I was among the unlucky ones. It was during winter, and it was a dreary afternoon and most of the students as well as the teacher were half drowsy. We had a report to prepare from some outside readings, which was to be read in the class. I was the first to be summoned to deliver my report. I spoke for 10 minutes. I was told that my report was not full and does not deserve more than a C. I sat with a scowl on my face, dissatisfied with the grade.

After two more reports, a friend of mine was called to deliver her report, which she did not prepare. She snatched my report, and audaciously, she began reading it. A few of the students who saw her take my report began smiling peevishly. Everyone was in suspense, wondering whether the teacher would discover the trick. Amidst the suspense, we fretfully giggled. We were scolded for our misbehavior. I was reprimanded for being so irresponsible as to laugh when my grade was C, instead of listening attentively to the report, which was graded A. Such is luck, fellow students. My report, the one I wrote, was twice-graded: once C for Miss 'Unlucky' and once A for Miss 'Lucky.'"
 

The 1987 Caravan posted a piece titled "Cats! Cats! Cats!" about how the sixth-floor lounge of the Falaki girls' hostel had been filled with cats, who "seem to have mistaken the place for a shelter."

 

Pierre Cachia '42

"Dr. Howard taught me English. I can still remember his particular technique. Whenever I submitted a paper, if there was one word that wasn't quite right, he would just put a tiny little tick with his pencil underneath it. There was no indication of what the right word ought to be, just a little tick. And I would go home, puzzle over it and spend a couple of hours searching through the dictionaries until I found the right word to replace it by. Well, I think I still do this when I'm working on an article or book. If I put down a word that isn't quite right, I almost see Dr. Howard's little tick underneath it, and I still spend a couple hours searching through the dictionaries until I find the right one."
 

James Quay, worked at AUC, report from the 1920s:

"Dr. Watson loved to entertain, and at his house, they would set a table and everything would be arranged. During dinner, Dr. Watson would break in with a new subject all set in his mind that would make a good conversation piece. In fact, I believe he had a whole string of topics for conversation scribbled on the inside of his cuff to assure that the table conversation would be kept on the rails and not run off into small matters that weren't pertinent."

James Quay, worked at AUC, report from the 1920s:

"Dr. Robert S. McClenahan was the Dean of the American University in Cairo. He was quite an able man, of big stature and fine presence. He was nearly blind by the time he died. The last time I saw him, he told me about standing on the street, on the corner of 5th Avenue, New York, alone waiting for the traffic to stop so that he could get across with safety. As he stood there waiting, a friendly hand took him by the arm and gave him a little push, and the two of them went across the street in perfect safety to the other side. This stranger turned to McClenahan and thanked him very much. And McClenahan said, 'What are you thanking me for?' 'Why, for getting me across the street,' the stranger responded. 'You see, I'm blind.'" 
 

P.J Vatikiotis, 1944-1948

"General AUC characters in those days were the Zabit, a sort of discipline officer, who, when he was not prowling about, sat at a desk on the right-hand side beneath the central stairway of the main building. He made certain people went to class, did not lie about smoking on campus or cavorting with the odd female, and wrote the list of the day's post on a blackboard precariously hung against the iron railing fence on the main gate."
 

John Badeau, AUC president (1945-1953)

"Naguib Rihany, the great popular playwright of social significance, died suddenly in Egypt. That year, one of our girls had made Naguib Rihany and the social objectives of his plays the subject of her senior thesis, and she spent a year on this. She talked to Rihany and she read all his plays, and when he died, this really was the only account available about his philosophy of acting, a list of his works and how he went about it. It became very valuable. We sent one copy to the Library of Congress. The Egyptian government had a copy. And the girl who did it had a type of education that she just wouldn't get out of a book."

Naguib RihanyOn March 13, 1953, President Gamal Abdel Nasser visited AUC as the guest of honor for the Fourth Annual Arabic Language Day

According to the 1953 Caravan, during President Nasser's visit to campus, "he was surrounded during this time by students and visitors anxious to greet him or get his autograph. When he entered the library office, many of the spectators attempted to enter also. When their knocks on the door went unanswered, some jumped in through the window."

It also reports, "When he was given a copy of the Campus Caravan, he was astonished to find the complete story and pictures of Arabic Day already included in the paper. As he looked at his sketch on the front page, he was asked if he was the person show there. He replied that he was and added that the Campus Caravan was a good looking paper."

 

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The first building secured for AUC was Khairy Pasha's Old Palace Residence. The same building at one time housed the Egyptian University, now Cairo University.
 

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AUC owned land near the Giza Pyramids until 1959 and originally had planned to have the campus be by the pyramids.

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AUC used to host a traditional tug of war contest between sophomores and freshmen. As reported by the Caravan on November 2, 1951, "The traditional tug of war between sophomores and freshmen will take place on Saturday, January 6 during Assembly time. There will be a ditch filled with mud between the two teams, and the winning team will be the one who can tug the other team into the mud."

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In its early days, AUC's Arabic classes assigned students both a "sheikh" and an "effendi." The sheikh was someone who did not speak English, and the effendi was someone who did.

-- Alan Horton, student, written in 1947

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Through the years, AUC students have hosted a range of informal contests, notably including a yelling contest in 1945 and a beard-growing contest in 1956. Below is an excerpt about the yelling contest in the January 5, 1945 Caravan edition:

"Leila Shukri beat all other co-eds who took part in a yelling contest last week in the girls' room. The aim of the contest was to see who could reach the highest pitch. Leila Shukri reached the highest Mi note on tiptoes and so scored the highest. Ida Chalvarjian could not yell at all. Every time she tried yelling, she produced a discordant sound."
 

 

About AUC New Cairo

• 115,000 square meters of stone, marble and granite were used in the campus construction -- the most stone used in a single project since the Pyramids of Giza. 
   

• 80% of the external walls are made of sandstone, mostly sourced from Upper Egypt, keeping rooms cool during the day and warm at night.
   

• An international team of architects, seven firms from three countries, designed AUC New Cairo, ranked as the top green campus in Africa.
   

• In 2009, AUC received a special award from the Urban Land Institute for the design and construction of its New Cairo campus.
   

Thanks to the generosity of our New Cairo campus supporters, whose names can be found all around campus.

$1M+

Mr. J. Dinsmore Adams, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Moataz Al Alfi

Dr. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor Hon LHD

Dr. Hamza Bahey El Din Alkholi

H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi Hon LHD

Mr. Theodore S. Bacon, Jr.*

Mr. and Mrs. Paul H. Bartlett

Dr. Sarwat Sabet Bassily*

H.R.H. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Hon LHD

Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Cashin

Paul I. and Charlotte P. Corddry

Mr. Miner D. Crary, Jr. and Mrs. Mary Crary*

Mrs. Elizabeth S. Driscoll

Mr. Mohamed Shafik Gabr '73

Mr. Paul B. Hannon Hon LHD

Dr. and Mrs. Elias K. Hebeka

Dr. and Mrs. Ahmed M. Hassanein Heikal

Mr. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel '68, Hon LHD

Mrs. Suad Al-Husseini Juffali Hon LHD

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce L. Ludwig

H.E. Mohamed Loutfy Mansour

Mr. Hatem Niazi Mostafa* and Mrs. Janet Mostafa

Mr. Youssef Ayyad Nabih*

Sheikh Mohammed Wajih Hassan Sharbatly '89

$500K+

Sheikh Faisal Kamal Adham

Mrs. Mary Cross*

Mr. Hassan '73 and Mrs. Jill Dana
 

$250K+

Mr. Ala M. Al Khawaja

Dr. Barbara Brown and Dr. Steven C. Ward

Professor Gail M. Gerhart

Mr. Abdallah S. Jum'ah '65

Mr. David Rockefeller Hon LHD*

Mr. Khaled Shaheen

Mrs. Linda Joan Vester Greenberg '89
 

$100K+

Arab African International Bank

Mrs. Sarah Bacon*

Commercial International Bank (Egypt)

Mr. and Mrs. Elias Henry Debbas '68

Mr. William L. Driscoll and Dr. Lisa M. Hoffman

Abla Leheta and Souhail El-Taji El-Farouki '68

Dr. and Mrs. Adel El-Labban '77 '80

Mr. Hesham Helal El Sewedy '88

Sted and Robin Garber

Dr. John D. Gerhart Hon LHD*

Dr. Eng. Mamdouh Mostafa Hamza

Mr. Charles J. Hedlund Hon LHD*

Henkel-Egypt

Mr. B. Boyd and Mrs. Mary Kay Hight

Mr. Lawrence H. Hyde*

Fritz and Lee Link

Mrs. Marion M. Lloyd*

PepsiCo International - Egypt

Dr. Mohamed Eloui Taymour*

The Starr Foundation

Dr. Sadek '87 and Mrs. Suzy Wahba

Anonymous
 

$50K+

Alcatel - Lucent Egypt

Sheikh Abdulaziz AlSulaiman

Mr. David D. Arnold and Mrs. Sherry Lee Arnold

AUC Parents Association

Mr. Kenneth H. Bacon* and Mrs. Dorothy Bacon*

Mrs. Molly and Dr. Thomas Bartlett Hon LHD

Mr. Hussein Choucri

Peggy Driscoll and Rob Keeley

Egyptian Gulf Bank (EGBANK)

Eng. Emad Zaki El Sewedy '88

Mrs. Miriam Thorne Gilpatric*

Mrs. Inaam Bahgat Hassanein '84, '91

Dr. Ibrahim Abdel Aziz Hegazy '84, '87

Ms. Elizabeth D. Hlavka and Mr. Edwin J. Hlavka

Ms. Edith Crary Howe*

Mr. Tarek Mohamed Ismail

ITWorx

Arthur and Susan Lindenauer

Link Development

Luz and William MacArthur

Mr. Seif Allah Hamdy Mostafa '94

Mrs. Louise W. Moore Pine*

Red Bull Egypt for Import & Export

Dr. Ahmed Hassan Said '85

Mr. Mahmoud Abdel Wahab Saleh*

Mr. Ahmed Mamdouh Sharafeldin '91

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Thomason

Mr. and Mrs. John Elting Treat*

Mr. and Mrs. John A. Urquhart, Sr.*

Visa International (Egypt)

The Honorable Frank G. Wisner

Anonymous
 

$25K+

Sheikh Ahmed Abdullatif '57

James D. and Mary Claire Bond

Mrs. Rania Ismail '95 and Mr. Ahmed Ismail '97

Mrs. Margaret R. King*

Reverend Richard A. Lundy SP

Mrs. Nadia Niazi Mostafa

Rob and Teresa Oden
 

$10K+

Mr. and Mrs. Anis Aclimandos

Mrs. Elisabeth Barahim

Kate, Victor and Jack Boyd

Mr. Alexander L. Darling

Mr. Mohamed A. Fattah El Masry

Dr. Hussein and Mrs. Kim El-Sharkawy

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Gajewski

Mr. and Mrs. Mounir Ghabbour

Mrs. Hoda Mohamed Hamed '66, '73

Ms. Deming P. Holleran

Mrs. Mona Ismail Mostafa Ismail '68, '79

Mr. Mohamed Saddik Leheta*

William Quandt

Mr. and Mrs. Fathi Qasem Samarah

Mr. Christopher T. Seaver '80

H.E. Ambassador Samir S. Shihabi '47, Hon LHD*

Mrs. Benjamin W. Thoron*

*Deceased

Hon LHD Honorary Degree

SP Special Program Alumni

 

 

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• C. David Welch, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt
• Black and white old archival photos, scans, Visit Religious Leaders Pope Shenouda
• Sir Magdi Yacoub, cardiothoracic surgeon, Imperial College London, Heart of the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation
• John Casson, former UK UK Ambassador to Egypt
• Ahmed Okasha, Psychiatrist, Professor of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University
• Muhammad Tantawi, former Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar
• Mohamed Farid, Executive Chairman, The Egyptian Exchange
• Yoon Soon-Gu, former South Korean Ambassador to Egypt
• Helen Keller, American author, political activist and lecturer
• Helmy Fauzy, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia
• Sanjay Bhattacharyya, former Indian Ambassador to Egypt
• Louis Greiss '55, Egyptian journalist and writer
• Edith Piaf, French singer and actress
• Thomas Friedman (ALU '74), Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• Fadwa El Guindi '60, award-winning international anthropologist
• Omar Sherif, iconic Egyptian actor
• Former Egyptian President Mohammed Naguib
• Charles Elachi, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and planetary science, California Institute of Technology
• Taha Hussein, literary scholar and former Minister of Education
• Edward Said, professor of English and comparative literature, Columbia University
• Noam Chomsky, professor Emeritus of linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Gro Harlem Brundtland, sustainability movement founder
• David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
• Youssef Chahine, award-winning film director
• Amre Moussa, former Secretary-General of the Arab League; Egypt's former Foreign Minister
• Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States
• Ahmed Kamal Aboul Magd, law professor, Cairo University
• Fekry Abaza, Egyptian journalist and political activist
• Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry
• Om Kolthoum, legendary Egyptian singer
• Frank G. Wisner, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt
• Yahya Haqqi, Egyptian writer and novelist
• Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz
• Richard W. Murphy, former U.S. Ambassador
• Yusuf Idris, Egyptian playwright and novelist
• Youssef El-Sebai, Egyptian novelist and former Minister of Culture
• Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State of the United States
• Muhammed El-Sa'di, former President of Al Azhar University
• Boutros Ghall, sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations
• Abbas Ammar, Egypt's Former Minister of Education
• Ahmed Zewail, Nobel Laureate and AUC Trustee
• Don Cheadle, American actor
• Michael Dukakis, former U.S. presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor
• Stephen Walt, professor of International Affairs, Harvard University
• Kofi Annan, Nobel Laureate and seventh Secretary General of the United Nations
• Condoleeza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State
• Ahdaf Soueif (MA '73), Egyptian novelist
• John Prendergast, New York Times bestselling author, former Director of African Affairs, U.S. National Security Council
• Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States
• Hans Kung, Swiss theolgian
• Shibley Telhami Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland
• James Zogby, founder and President of the Arab American Institute
• Mary Robinson, first female president of Ireland
• Timothy Garton Ash, professor of European Studies, University of Oxford
•  

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By Aliah Salih | This story appeared in the Spring 2018 edition of AUCToday.

With AUC's centennial on the horizon, one question is top of mind: How should AUC celebrate its 100th birthday?

The University shared the task with the public through the Got an Idea? competition to find 100 ways to celebrate AUC's centennial. Then all the creative energy started to flow in.

Approximately 180 ideas have been submitted, ranging from the creative and innovative to the heartwarming and strange -- and it's becoming hard to choose. Though the committee is still in the process of selection and weighing out the potential of each idea, it doesn't mind sharing a few -- among many -- that stood out.

Most of the contributors are keen on having music and art as an inevitable part of the festivities -- because what is a celebration without some music? Some of the suggestions are having musicians from AUC perform their groundbreaking work, as well as bringing in alums who went on to become famous singers. This will definitely guarantee a centennial with a unique soundtrack of different voices, genres and energies. Other ideas assert the presence of the arts through AUCian contributions, which include visual arts and theatre. As for those who are not artists per se, one idea is to dig into your old photo boxes and find shots from your glory days at AUC to display in an art exhibition. Others suggest bringing together select community members and having them compose and write a custom AUC song.

Some of the most interesting ideas are telling the story of AUC through fashion, which is possibly one of the most entertaining ways of reflecting on the decades of fashion do's and don'ts. The suggestions are playing dress-up and snapping photos, or putting together an entire fashion show that showcases the different sartorial creations that AUC witnessed through its students, faculty and staff in the past 100 years. One even recommended having a 1919-themed party, and another went for a le Great Gatsby extravaganza. Overall, we suspect some outfits will be a hit and make a vintage-retro comeback.

Many of the ideas revolve around selecting 100 achievements made by AUC through social media channels, books documenting civic engagement and journals of AUC reflections. Other ideas focus on inviting international and Egyptian influential faculty and prominent alumni and having them speak about their intellectual research and success stories.

"Inviting 100 alumni influencers highlights what AUC is all about -- how it contributed to shaping the future of many prominent figures in society," explained Dina El Turky '05, '13. "These figures will show, mentor and assist students on how to give back to the University and society, which is another value we acquired at AUC -- to always give back to the community."

Nominate someone for Alumni of the Century here!

 

Keeping in line with AUC's achievements, one of the most intriguing suggestions is finding 100 people whose lives have been changed through AUC. This transformation could have been through academia, social awareness, financial aid, employment or something that hasn't even crossed anyone's mind. Through a hashtag like #BecauseOfAUC or #100GratefulAUCians, people can tell stories of how the University helped change their lives.

"It's my second semester at AUC, and I can sense the impact AUC has had on me. It's relatable, and I think it's a great way of thanking our University for 100 years of changing lives," said student Maisson Hatem Hussein, explaining her hashtag idea. "It would be a memorable hashtag. It would grab the eye, and have people share and read meaningful phrases. Our University will become more associated with positively changing people's lives."

Giving back, a distinct trait that makes AUC what it is today, seems to resonate with many. Countless people propose giving away 100 scholarships to prospective students, raising funds for 100 students and granting scholarships to distinct students from across Egypt. One of the most heartwarming ideas is 100 acts of charity, which calls for giving back to the AUC community and beyond through donating money, giveaways, supporting more entrepreneurs and offering training opportunities.

Some ideas look into the future and call for expansion, such as establishing new departments in the next 100 years and building another campus in 6th of October City. Other ideas are guaranteed to warm everyone's hearts, like finding and honoring the oldest AUCian alive, or highlighting 100 college sweethearts who found love at AUC.

"AUC is not only a place for education. It is also a place were families actually started, and many of them have lasted until today," said Engi Radwan '02, who met her husband back in the Tahrir Square campus. "Couples like my husband and I first met at AUC, and love stories were written over the years because of this place. We can show off to our kids and tell them how we started off as friends and how this University brought us closer through education, social networking, events and extracurricular activities -- and it all ended up in starting families. AUC will always have a special place in our hearts, and many families like mine will be forever grateful for it."

Some thought of leveraging the opportunity by planting 100 trees and spreading the word about sustainability. Other ideas are full of wishful thinking, like giving A's to all students, 100 free days of parking and a tuition discount of EGP 100,000. Still others aim to symbolize AUC's old school side and its modernity, like designing custom AUC postage stamps and creating virtual reality experiences through both campuses. "AUC's legacy is primarily all the AUCians who graduated since its founding and their contributions to Egypt and the world across all aspects of life," said Maged Farrag '93, parent of a current AUC student.

Farrag proposed creating a 360 video that would be shared on social media platforms as well as played on virtual reality headsets on campus and during centennial events. "We would make a 360 video shooting of the old and new campuses and blend it with archival photos and videos to bring it to life," he explained. "It would be like a time machine -- taking a journey into the campus memories across the years, bringing the old campus to life through an immersive experience. As AUCians, we cherish the moments we spent on campus, and the photos that we keep are part of our legacy."

In the end, AUC is brimming with all the ingenuity, which we know will generate a series of celebrations that reflect the University's artistic and intellectual outlook.

By the way, to AUC's rugby team: We got your 12 ideas about being included. We won't forget you.

Find out more about the centennial here.

 

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By Elizabeth Lepro, photos by Ahmad El-Nemr and Elizabeth Lepro| This story appeared in the Spring 2018 edition of AUCToday.

The beginning of a 1995 written history of AUC Press puts it plainly: "The growth of the Press over the last 35 years has been neither smooth nor steady."

Bearing down initially through the trials of working with outdated machinery and paper and ink shortages, and consistently through tough economics and political upheaval, AUC Press has endured a storied history in its persistent pursuit of sharing stories.
Current Director Nigel Fletcher-Jones came to Cairo post-revolution in 2012.

Nigel Fletcher-Jones in his office at the AUC Press headquarters in Downtown Cairo. Photo by Elizabeth Lepro.

"I had a number of things to deal with, not the least that essentially the market for books had simply disappeared in Egypt, almost overnight," the British-born director said, echoing many AUC Press directors who have arrived with a mission to reinvigorate the publishing house after turmoil.

Yet, AUC Press has grown.

A little more than 20 years ago, AUC Press boasted 140 printed works in total, catered to a majority Egyptian readership and had only one location outside of Tahrir. Today, it prints up to 60 books per year, with plans to grow to 80 annually. Fletcher-Jones takes advantage of technological advancement to reach a widening audience, and -- in the last several years -- AUC Press has expanded well beyond University gates.

The most recent successes of AUC Press include creating the Hoopoe fiction imprint in 2016, opening a permanent bookstand at the Egyptian Museum and appearing in Amazon's brick and mortar pop-up shop in Manhattan. Two of its books were internationally recognized as distinguished works of 2016, and three received PROSE Awards in 2017.

These accolades represent the resilience of the publishing house as an institution dedicated, despite the odds, to bringing Egypt and the Middle East to the world.

Humble Beginnings

At the time of its creation by AUC's Board of Trustees in 1960, AUC Press was made up of two staff members. In one room, an Al Ahram editorial executive and his assistant, a journalism professor at AUC, labored over the production of K.A.C. Creswell's A Bibliography of the Architecture, Arts, and Crafts of Islam. The next few directors of AUC Press were also journalism professors, and the institution's main function was to disseminate University research.

As AUC Press worked extensively with the University's New York Office, it became an integral part of the tenuous bridge connecting AUC with North America. Tenuous because in 1967, Egypt broke diplomatic relations with the United States over its support of Israel in the Arab-Israeli War. The upheaval reduced tourism and affected national economics -- two factors that typically sent the success of AUC Press nose-diving.

There was one positive outcome to the political situation: The U.S. Embassy and Cairo American College donated a new paper cutter, a Davidson printer, a camera, a Varityper headliner and other small fundamentals. AUC Press rattled on.

Two years later, Mason Rossiter Smith, a publisher and journalist from the United States, took over as director. Released from the obligation to also teach journalism courses, he took AUC Press beyond its usual borders, sending exhibits to global book fairs and conferences in Europe and the Americas. A book list from this time describes a number of available titles in philosophy and religion, art and architecture, history and English-language learning.

By 1974, several years of conflict in the region meant tourism had once again taken a hit. Imports were low, unemployment was high and exports were only beginning to increase. Director John Rodenbeck said his main objective was "keeping the [AUC] Press alive at all."

The Naguib Mahfouz Legacy

Neil Hewison, who spent 30 years as an editor at AUC Press before retiring last year, remembers getting a mysterious call from Sweden in 1988:

"Hi, can you please tell us how to get in touch with Naguib Mahfouz?'"

The beloved Egyptian novelist had won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature, a turn that neither AUC Press, which owned the rights to translations of his work, nor the author himself anticipated. "It was a surprise to him, and we certainly weren't expecting it," said Hewison.

By the late 1980s, what was once a tiny, struggling Egyptian publishing house was blossoming. The late German-born Mark Linz, two-time director of AUC Press, oversaw an expansion that included hiring new staff members, moving to roomier headquarters and doubling production. Other well-known writers coming out of AUC Press publications at the time included Yusuf Idris, Taha Hussein, Nayra Atiya and Tawfiq al-Hakim.

"There was a great sense of excitement and certainly optimism when Naguib Mahfouz won," Hewison said. "Perhaps we all, or many of us, thought over-optimistically that this would throw open the doors of Arabic literature to the world. What it did, of course, was throw open the doors of Naguib Mahfouz to the world."

Mahfouz became an international literary phenomenon. His books now appear in 40 languages, amassing somewhere near 600 editions -- all either published or licensed by AUC Press.

The late author's earnest and fond descriptions of everyday Egyptians offered an impactful lens into the country's reality. This is a mission that AUC Press has always shared, according to Fletcher-Jones: "to try as best as we can, but in a very small way, to represent what the realities are about life and history in the Middle East."

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Best-selling AUC Press books 1960-2018:

                   

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Technology and Future Expansion

By the 1990s, there was a sense of excitement at the publishing house, buoyed by a healthy flow of tourism to and interest in Egypt. AUC Press doubled the number of books it published per year.

But success was always tempered, warned Hewison, tied to the ever-changing heart-rate monitor of Egypt. When militants killed 62 people in Luxor at Deir el-Bahari in 1997, "I remember particularly an almost immediate effect on not just the book market for us, but on the whole economy of the country," Hewison said.

At the same time, a 1996 AUC Press newsletter featured the new electronic publishing editor discussing the promise of the internet, while AUC Press expanded its genres, adding more nationalities of authors and making international partnerships with other universities.

Customers browse the AUC Press section of the Egyptian Museum.

In 2007, the AUC Press online shop launched, allowing sales to continue even if tourism dipped, though roughly 80 percent of its sales were still within Egypt.

Nowadays, with the proliferation of technology and social media, Fletcher-Jones sees an everlasting audience in what he calls "armchair Egyptologists," people without Egyptology degrees who have a passion for learning about Egypt's history. On a public Facebook page under his name, Fletcher-Jones interacts with nearly 4,000 armchair Egyptologists all over the world.

"On social media, we can continue to generate communities," he said. "With the rise of technology and Amazon, it no longer matters where in the world you are publishing from."

A more singular focus on fiction has also defined change in the last decade, said Jody Baboukis, interim managing editor at AUC Press. The Hoopoe fiction imprint features authors from across the Middle East. Some of Hoopoe's popular novels include The Televangelist (Egypt), Whitefly (Morocco) and the winner of this year's Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature Mukhmal, or Velvet (Palestine).

Despite finding success in fiction and social media, AUC Press knows it owns a niche no other publishing house can usurp: Egyptology. It recently made a substantial donation of books on Egyptology and Egyptian archaeology to the Shafik Gabr Foundation for distribution to schools around Cairo, Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, Theban Mapping Project in Luxor and Amarna Project library in Tell el-Amarna.

In 2020, AUC Press will celebrate its diamond jubilee, with 60 years of success, and AUC Press Bookstores will celebrate their 35th anniversary. Throughout the past decades, AUC Press has remained true to its brand.

"We aren't a huge, comprehensive academic publisher like Oxford University Press or Routledge. We specialize in what's closest to us and what we know best," said Baboukis. "We're the largest English-language book publisher in the Middle East, and both our fiction and nonfiction books regularly win international publishing and translation awards. Clearly, we're doing something right."

Visit the AUC Press website here and follow it on Twitter here.

 

By Ioanna Moriatis | This story appeared in the Spring 2018 edition of AUCToday.

Click here for quotes from public school teachers about AUC's training program.

AUC's role in shaping lives starts the moment a student is first admitted, aspiring to be part of the values the University constantly emanates.

But what about all those years before a student steps onto campus -- those years of schooling when a student first learns to absorb knowledge?

Working to be present at all stages of a student's life, the University is partnering with organizations and community members to help enhance Egypt's education system -- a hefty task given a system with more than 23 million students.

AUC's Graduate School of Education (GSE) partnered with the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), a subsidiary of Qalaa Holdings, to provide a capacity-building professional training program for 30 public school teachers of early-year learners from three different educational directorates: East Shubra Al Kheima, Al Matareya and Al Khosous. "At Qalaa Holdings, we have a very firm belief that education is extremely important for the advancement of Egypt," said Ahmed Heikal, chairman of ERC.

"I'm very proud of this program. Those are neighborhoods that are extremely in need of upgrading their public school systems. So we're very proud to be involved in this initiative."

AUC's Center for Sustainable Development has also launched a project, School of 2030: Education for Sustainable Development, in Boulaq Al Dakrour - EduCamp III. The project's main objective is to transform education in Egypt by building schools in informal settlement areas, working toward achieving the country's larger sustainable development strategy, known as Egypt Vision 2030.

"The world has turned to education for sustainable development after witnessing the impact of human exploitation on each other and the environment," said Hani Sewilam, mechanical engineering professor and founding director of the Center for Sustainable Development who is managing the EduCamp project.

Training Teachers

The first cohort of AUC's GSE-ERC program recently celebrated the completion of its professional training program, ushering in another cohort of public school teachers.

Through such collaborative initiatives, AUC encourages external entities to build programs and projects that promote positive local change. In this way, AUC acts as the nucleus of educational transformation in Egypt, both producing knowledge and effecting change through its own programs while also establishing partnerships to pioneer impactful projects using the University's venues and resources. "It's a very good initiative because different companies and businessmen fund the training of public school teachers at AUC as part of their professional development," said Heba El Deghaidy, associate professor and chair of AUC's Department of International and Comparative Education.

This professional training program falls under phase two of the ERC's Mostakbaly [My Future] initiative, which was launched to tackle inequalities in Egypt's education system and improve the quality of instruction in public schools. "I'm particularly excited about this program," said Adham Ramadan '91, dean of graduate studies who served as acting dean of the Graduate School of Education in Spring 2018. "We are all working with local government districts in ERC's region. This is a great example of how businesses can actually support communities around them."

ERC awarded the scholarships specifically to kindergarten and primary school teachers, enabling them to participate in AUC's Professional Educator Training Program, a customized GSE capacity-building professional training for educators of young learners.

The one-year program covers a range of topics, including child development, teaching strategies, assessment, active learning and technology in the classroom. To cater to the new cohort's needs, the program is now delving into even more subjects, such as communication, presentation, time management, interpersonal skills and differentiation in the classroom. "The teachers have actually started to apply these skills inside the classrooms," noted El Deghaidy.

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Click here to see what public school teachers have to say about AUC's training program!

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Setting a Model

EduCamp III marks the third phase of the Education for Sustainable Development Beyond the Campus initiative (EduCamp), which was initiated in 2010. Granted support from the European Union's Tempus program, AUC and the RWTH Aachen University in Germany launched the initiative to introduce education for sustainable development in Egypt. The main component of the current phase involves establishing models for Egyptian schools to exemplify how to enhance education in tune with Egypt Vision 2030.

The project is focused on transforming two schools in Boulaq Al Dakrour: Mohamed Farouk Wahdan Preparatory School and Gamal Abdel Nasser Primary School.
"We wanted to create a model that is representative of Egyptian schools, and in order to do that, we had to target national schools in areas that need intervention," said Sewilam. "Sustainable development is needed the most. We chose two schools in Boulaq Al Dakrour that represent the real problems most Egyptians face. We want to develop solutions tailored specifically for Egypt's unique socioeconomic challenges."

During the first phase of the initiative, EduCamp I, the team created education for sustainable development kits and delivered them to various schools in Egypt, opening seven centers of excellence at seven Egyptian universities. For the second phase of the project, EduCamp II in 2014, AUC's Center for Sustainable Development began working to introduce education for sustainable development in informal areas around Egypt.

EduCamp III now aims to introduce sustainable development teaching in Egyptian schools over one year, implementing the initiative on a larger scale with support from the European Union and German government. Plans include creating and conducting a capacity development program for school stakeholders, renovating school facilities to include the necessary resources and developing education for sustainable development kits.

"If you produce sustainability-literate youth, then you will have created a new generation aware of the problems facing them and can develop suitable interventions for Egypt's unique challenges," affirmed Sewilam.

The schools in Boulaq Al Dakrour will help stakeholders in Egypt's education system uncover solutions to recurring issues in public schools, such as infrastructure problems, overcrowded classes, teaching quality and violence. The project is particularly taking into account children with special needs, females and mothers in designing the model schools based on the specific needs of the community.

Since September 2017, the project team has assessed the needs of the two schools and developed plans for renovation and implementation of the training programs. "We are currently training the school teachers and managers and working on renovation," said Sewilam.

A Change in Teacher Mindset

AUC seeks to set an example for public schools, engaging individual teachers and prompting instructors to rethink their teaching styles and roles in the classroom, rather than tackling the larger education system itself. "We are helping teachers become agents of change in education," said Ramadan.

Now in the middle of the second round of training with a new cohort of teachers, Dahlia Fouad, one of the instructors in AUC's Professional Educator Training Program, has the chance to observe the various challenges public school teachers face in building their skills and bettering their schools.

"Having worked in the education field for a while, I can see a big gap between private and public schools," noted Fouad. "This is not because the public school teachers are not as good as those in private schools, but the ones in private schools get exposed to international training, peer acquaintances and professional development in certain areas."

Fouad indicated that these differences lead public school teachers to the conclusion that the system itself is the main obstacle to advancing school instruction in Egypt. "In their minds, they are more stuck on the system itself," she reflected. "They feel they are victims of the system. What we have been trying to do to these teachers is break the chains and train them to become autonomous teachers. Yes, we have problems in Egypt's education system. No one can deny this. But, it's all about the teacher. If you remove the classroom, curriculum and system, it's still the teacher and student."

Although she initially spotted some resistance amongst teachers, Fouad noted significant changes in their mindsets by the end of the first cohort's program. "They're more self-assured," she said. "They have self-esteem and are confident about their capabilities. They want to make a change. This is not just on an academic or pedagogical level, but also on a personal level."

Saeed Ghoneim, a teacher from Al Khosous Language School, benefited from the program's emphasis on knowledge-sharing and exchange, and learned about himself as a teacher in the process. "This course developed many things in my personality," he reflected. "At AUC, I learned how to share and exchange my experience with my colleagues. The most useful course was how to deal with technology and present material in an updated way. The way we were trained at AUC was excellent, very different. I have changed as a teacher and learned to not stop learning."

Emphasizing the crucial role teachers play, Sewilam noted, "You would be surprised at what well-qualified teachers can do inside classrooms with no or minimal resources. This is why the teacher is the most important stakeholder in the education system. Another equally important goal is the restructuring of the technical and vocational education system. If we focus on this, it has the potential to solve many other problems, such as the lack of skilled labor, and to help the Egyptian economy as a whole."

AUC's impact might begin with a cohort of 30 teachers or two schools in Boulaq Al Dakrour, but that effect -- even if gradual -- has the potential to spread, transforming mindsets and making an impact across the country. "It's about leading the way forward for change," said Ramadan. "Sometimes people say it's outreach, but I think it's beyond that because you're developing skills that will hopefully have a domino effect."

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By Ioanna Moriatis, photos by Ahmad El-Nemr | This story appeared in the Spring 2018 edition of AUCToday.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "We but mirror the world. ... If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. ...We need not wait to see what others do."

AUCians definitely don't wait. They initiate and take the lead. You find them everywhere -- from business and education to technology and policymaking -- making a difference and leaving an impact, particularly when it comes to community building.

Education for the New Generation
 

Seif Abou Zaid '08, '17, CEO of Mavericks school. Photo by Ahmad El-Nemr.

"I was always interested in education as a vehicle for liberation and empowerment," said Seif Abou Zaid '08, '17, CEO of Mavericks school. It's this understanding of education that led him to seek a new approach to schooling in Egypt.

Mavericks, Egypt's first blended learning school, was founded with an approach to education that focuses on personalized learning that fits the individual needs of students; an emphasis on hands-on activities that make the learning experience fun and engaging; character building; and open-house education, where students are not confined to the traditional classroom and all parts of the school are learning spaces. Students are empowered to make decisions starting in Pre-K and KG1, choosing where to learn and which activities to do during the day.

"We're not interested in comparing students to each other," Abou Zaid highlighted. "We want kids who accept themselves, have self-awareness, and challenge themselves and each other."

Though many praise the school for its blended learning techniques, this is just a tool, as Abou Zaid pointed out. "Actually, for us, blended learning is not the end game," he explained. "What's beyond blended learning is this idea of being child-centered, of following the child's interest and challenging students to be the best versions of themselves. If technology is a tool that can empower this, then so be it."

Having majored in political science, minored in history and earned a master's in public policy from AUC, Abou Zaid always focused on how he could make an impact on the community. "I was interested in the sweet spot or common ground between education as an empowering tool and public space," he said. "This is where I saw myself, hopefully, doing meaningful things."

Abou Zaid started out working on two startups before founding Mavericks, both targeting middle and high school students as well as middle managers. He quickly found that the impact at this stage wasn't what he wanted. "We wanted to build a different generation, empowering people to be mavericks -- or think outside the box -- and influencing the present and the future. This is what a student-centered learning experience is all about."

Hoping to expand the Mavericks model across Egypt's governorates, Abou Zaid established two campuses in Cairo and one in Damietta. The aim is to spread this new learning philosophy to the many students who still don't have access to quality education inside and outside of Cairo. "The impact we can have now is to set an example," he affirmed. "Later on, we're really interested in scale. We want to provide high-quality education, but at a scale that actually has the right impact for the millions or billions out there who deserve access."

Job Matching

Omar Khalifa '08 in front of the office for his online recruitment platform Shaghalni. Photo by Ahmad El-Nemr.

Education is one space in which impact can be made. But what happens after schooling ends? A major challenge in the Egyptian economy now is the large population of unemployed youth.

Omar Khalifa '08, CEO and founder of Shaghalni.com, saw a chance to expand opportunities for Egyptians by making the recruitment process and job market more transparent.

Through Shaghalni online platform, blue and grey-collar job seekers share their skills and experiences by posting their profiles and promoting their skills -- giving the chance for employers to hire them directly.

Khalifa's idea for the platform was sparked after observing AUC's successful employment fairs each year. "We have the best companies coming to campus," he said. "I never had a real issue finding a job. However, I always wondered, 'That's great, but the majority of working-class Egyptians don't all enjoy the same employment opportunities.'"

Shaghalni started out as a printed journal promoting middle-skilled jobs. Then, Khalifa switched things around, publishing individual profiles of job seekers for employers to browse. To have a real impact, though, Khalifa decided he was going to have to go online.
Although he faced difficulties raising funds at first, he eventually put his own money into creating a beta version to test out. Today, two years later, there are 90,000 users and 8,000 companies posting on Shaghalni's website, and a mobile app is in the making. "It proves that if you believe in something and you're passionate about it, things will actually work," Khalifa commented on his investment in the project. "If you don't put your money into it, no one will."

Khalifa's website now has more than 90,000 users and 8,000 companies -- connecting people with jobs across the country. Photo by Ahmad El-Nemr.

Now, Khalifa's passion is drawing him outside of Egypt, pushing him to continue growing and making changes in the job market.

"My passion is helping people," Khalifa asserted. "When you receive feedback and see people getting jobs -- these people have families; they aren't just individuals -- it's worth so much more than money. Shaghalni is successful in Egypt, but we want something that can go regional. We're nowhere near where we want to be, but I think we're making a difference. That's my passion."

 

HASSAN AZZAZY
PROFESSOR AND CHAIR
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

Building a low-cost sensor that monitors water quality

The Inspiration

I believe that clean water is a human right. Yet developing countries often lack the capacity to detect and remove toxic metals from their water supply. If you're exposed to those metals -- mercury, cadmium, arsenic and lead -- in your water every day, they accumulate in your body. As they accumulate, they can severely affect your health. They can lower IQs in children, damage organs in people of any age and more. My research team is trying to develop a low-cost testing device -- a colorimetric sensor -- for toxic metals in water.

The Process

The first step was putting together a multidisciplinary team: graduate students with expertise in sensing technologies, nanotechnology and analytical chemistry. Together, we prepared innovative nanosensors, which have been granted patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office; assembled sensor strips; ran tests and compared results. Those results were qualitative; they provided only a yes/no answer for the presence of a specific toxic metal. Similar to pregnancy tests, the color of each sensor strip changes in the presence of a specific toxic metal. We have also developed a portable device that can measure the intensity of the developed color and, therefore, produce quantitative results -- numbers that can be used to assess the exact level of toxic metals in water.

The Next Steps

The next phase of our project is very exciting. We'll develop a tool that can help remove toxic metals from water. In everything we do, we're guided by the idea that our research should contribute practical solutions to address national and global challenges.

The IMPACT

Simply put, the devices we produce will help communities, especially those in remote locations dependent on underground water, to monitor their water quality. Local authorities will be able to assess the toxicity of metals in their water, giving them the information they need to warn community members of danger or to ensure that their water is safe for drinking or other uses.

Four toxic metals -- MERCURY, CADMIUM, ARSENIC AND LEAD -- are among the World Health Organization's Top 10 Chemicals of Major Public Concern.

The Future

AUC is one of the best places in Egypt to conduct innovative research. The high-caliber faculty, the industrious students, the advanced facilities and instruments -- these are all important factors. But the culture of AUC is important too. This is a University that encourages multidisciplinary research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Read about the newly inaugurated AUC and Alexandria University Center of Excellence for Water.

 

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By Ioanna Moriatis, feature photo by Ahmad El-Nemr | This is the cover story of the Spring 2018 edition of AUCToday.

Mostafa Kandil '15 is just 25, and yet is already at the core of a revolutionary trend in Egypt with his new company Swvl, a mobile app that organizes convenient and customized transportation routes around Egypt at reasonable prices. In fact, Swvl -- which was accelerated at the AUC Venture Lab -- recently raised $8 million in its first round of venture capital financing. This is the largest round of funding for a tech startup in Egypt and one of the largest in the Middle East.

"What we're doing is building public transportation for emerging markets," said Kandil, who was named -- along with co-founders Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah -- among Forbes Middle East's Class of 2018 Arab 30 under 30. "Often, people outside of emerging markets don't understand the magnitude of this global issue. In these markets, the middle class doesn't have affordable ways to commute. We're going to these markets and building the infrastructure for them."

At just 25 years old, Kandil is already changing the rideshare industry in Egypt. Photo by Ahmad El-Nemr.

In the short amount of time since its founding in 2017, the young startup has seen impressive growth, crossing Egypt's borders as it begins to establish roots abroad. After just six months, the transportation company was moving thousands of people a day. "Swvl is on its way to becoming a household name in Egypt and one of the biggest job providers in the country," said Kandil. "We are very excited about what the future holds for us as we build Egypt's first tech unicorn -- a company that investors value at more than $1 billion."

Companies around the world have tried to tap into this market with little success beyond a limited region. Kandil and his partners have impressed international investors with the rapid and widespread development of Swvl and the start of its expansion outside of Egypt to other emerging markets across the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa.

"The impact we've seen is incredible," said Kandil. "Nobody has been able to crack this issue before, and we're growing out of Egypt very quickly."

How It All Began

With an innovative mind already cultivated at the age of 16, Kandil started his AUC studies as a petroleum engineering student.

After gaining experience in the field through an internship, he began to think of going down a different path. "Petroleum engineering is a very specialized field," he explained. "You focus on one tool for years. I get bored easily and need change. I wouldn't be able to work on only one thing and not feel like I'm creating something new."

And so, he shifted focus and began to create.

At 19, Kandil was selected as one of 30 participants in a program hosted by Google and was invited to its headquarters in Dublin to network and learn about entrepreneurship. "It was a life-changing experience," he reflected. "We were 30 people from 25 different countries. Everyone came from a different background and field."

Equipped with a curious, entrepreneurial mind, Kandil returned to Egypt only to pack his bags and fly out once more -- this time to the Philippines. Recruited by the trending company Rocket Internet, Kandil was given the opportunity to build and grow a business based on an already successful business model. "They cherry-pick entrepreneurs, give them budgets and send them to a country to start a business," he said. "We were supposed to grow the business, scale it and hire replacements after six months to continue sustaining the company's progress when we leave. It was an amazing experience."

After six months, Kandil had already grown his online vehicle marketplace, Carmudi, to 40 people and scaled it to three cities. Carmudi was soon the second largest company in the Philippines, coming out on top of three major competitors.

Transforming Transportation

Swvl comes as a cost-friendly and useful alternative for commuters, given the challenges associated with public transportation in Egypt -- whether in terms of the reach of the bus and metro network or the lack of a clear system. Through this application, Kandil and his partners have been able to build an entire transportation infrastructure in Egypt, offering a reliable and accessible service that spans across Cairo and even extends outside of the capital.

Users of Swvl input their desired pick-up location and destination, and the application offers a set of routes and times from which to choose. It gives all the essential information: how long the ride will take and the distance needed to walk based on the route. Users are able to pay online so that riding just becomes a matter of pick-up and drop-off.

Swvl's system of buses sets up routes based on the pick-up and drop-off locations typically requested, offering shared fixed flat rates with no surge pricing. When the application was first introduced in Cairo, the first few routes departed from AUC so that the team could monitor the market and gather data to multiply routes based on consumers' needs.

Kandil also noted that this application offers an effective relief to the government, privatizing a system of public transportation while maintaining affordable prices and creating opportunities for employment. Since the introduction of the app, Swvl's fleet has increased to hundreds of buses. Swvl intends to invest $16.9 million, or EGP 300 million, in the Egyptian market in the next three years to employ micro-entrepreneurs. "We want to become one of the biggest job creators in the country," said Kandil.

AUC: The Springboard

While at AUC, Kandil was a member of the Cairo International Model United Nations, an organization that pushed him to grow as a leader and businessman. "We had to lobby at conferences and get everyone around us to believe in what we were saying," said Kandil.

"I think this is a unique skill that AUC students, in particular, have. When I graduated, I started doing this. My job is basically selling what we do."

After graduation, Kandil dabbled in venture capital for some time as an intern, before joining Otlob as its head of operations. Already managing five teams as a fresh graduate, he was able to increase the company's efficiency by approximately 400 percent.

Continuing down the path of company growth, Kandil then joined Careem as a market launcher, debuting cities in Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt for the transportation service in only six months. His talent was recognized with the CEO's High Achiever Award.

Having worked in an on-demand transportation company for some time, Kandil began to observe trends in the market, noticing that the average trip fare totaled three or four dollars, which can be a toll for the average Egyptian commuter. "I had a hypothesis that the problem was with the tourism companies," Kandil said. "I knew that these companies have huge fleets of buses that are high quality, but completely underutilized."

With his eye on an opening in the market and partners interested in collaborating, Kandil felt ready to leave Careem and begin work on a new project. He and his fellow co-founders Nouh and Sabbah left their job positions, and the next month, were working on Swvl.

Kandil and his team are alumni of the AUC Venture Lab, Egypt's first University-based incubator, where they participated in cycle eight. AUC Venture Lab offers acceleration programs to high-growth and innovation-driven startups. With the AUC Venture Lab's entrepreneurial support as well as the knowledge and guidance of mentors, the team was able to launch the application before graduating from the cycle.

"It's important for entrepreneurs to create new innovation-led startups that act as platforms for increasing competitiveness," said Ayman Ismail '95, '97, the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship and director of the AUC Venture Lab. "Almost 50 percent of AUC Venture Lab startups receive investments, with the total now exceeding EGP 220 million. We are proud of the Swvl founders, who are definitely changing and revolutionizing the Egyptian transportation sector."

Venturing into the Unknown
 

Traffic in Cairo can make owning a car of your own an annoyance. Photo via IaSousa on Flickr.

Kandil's academic background and experience traveling as a student have given him an edge as he looks to continue developing his startup. "It's been very challenging," he noted. "We want to keep growing quickly. I was lucky that I got to work with different cultures in various geographic locations when I was younger. It makes it much less scary when we say, 'OK, let's go to this country and launch a business there.'"

After overcoming many challenges along the way and creating success out of limited initial resources, Kandil feels confident in his decision to divert from his original career path. He encourages AUC students and graduates to take risks such as this one and innovate.

"As AUC graduates, we have the opportunity to take risks," said Kandil. "My single advice is: Build something; take a risk. This is what will differentiate you. It's been very hard taking this leap, but we now dream of seeing Swvl as the first Egyptian tech unicorn. We're laser-focused on this vision right now."