“I always insist on the collective because this is how you change history,” says Bahia Shehab (MA ’09), professor of practice in the Department of the Arts and co-editor of Revealing, Recording, Reflecting: Graphic Women from Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA), the first publication of its kind to document the work and legacy of contemporary women designers.
“This landmark book is about the ‘us’ of women,” says Shehab, who founded AUC’s graphic design program in 2011. ‘When people hold the book, I want them to recognize women’s voices in the Arab world. They are beautiful, they are colorful and they are varied. And they’re not limited to the geography of the Arab world. We are everywhere.”
Full of vibrant images, the book emerged from a collaborative initiative aimed at documenting and celebrating the contributions of SWANA women in the field of design. It all started when four women graphic designers from different institutions — Shehab from AUC in Egypt, Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès from Khatt Foundation in the Netherlands, Yasmine Nachabe Taan from the Lebanese American University in Lebanon and Soukeina Hachem from Shape interior design studio in Morocco — decided to research and showcase the work of Arab women designers. “We are four women from various parts of the region who came together to reflect, collect and reveal stories of Arab women designers,” says Shehab.
Not only were they tapping into an undocumented frontier, but their research process was atypical. “The normal route usually involves archives and a lot of reading,” explained Shehab. “But for this book, we decided to do something else: We opened up our research to a bigger community. So we were four curators, not authors. The idea is that it is a collective story of over 80 Arab women graphic designers that we are telling together, so there isn’t a single authority or voice.”
The first step for the co-editors was to focus on themes, the types of stories they want to tell. For Shehab, the choice was clear. “I love everything about Arabic design — its calligraphy, letters and typography — so I chose to work on Ladies of Letters: women who are as passionate about Arabic letters as I am. Each of us worked on a topic that she felt eager to explore in-depth.”
The book explores themes of Visual Storytelling by Women, Engaged Image-Making for Social and Political Commentary, Ladies of Letters (connecting generations of women writers and designers) and Navigating Diasporic Identities. Focusing on the work and impact of Arab women graphic designers, illustrators, calligraphers and typographers, the book includes critical writing, testimonials, primary documents and artwork.
The co-editors proposed the project online, collecting reflections on the different themes through Zoom panels and collaboration with a cultural space in Berlin, Germany for people to share their insights and recommend women in the field who can be featured in the book. “That physical space became our living research space, with sticky notes, observations, posters and new books. It was the first time for us to experiment with collective crowd-sourced research, and it was an enriching experience,” Shehab says.
Questionnaires were then sent out to women graphic designers, asking them to tell their own stories. “In the book, we are not reflecting on how they feel or assuming the meaning of their work. They are choosing what stories they want to tell — in their own words,” affirmed Shehab.
What are some of the biggest shifts in business school education?
The focus of business schools almost two decades ago was to produce leaders who transform corporations, boosting profit. Revenue was the prime goal. Now, business schools not only look at shareholder interest but also stakeholder interest — in other words, pressing societal concerns, such as sustainability, climate change, ethics, diversity, inclusion and governance. This represents a complete shift in business education around the world, and every school — from Africa to North America and around the world— is looking at how to consistently modify the curriculum to be timely and relevant. Shareholders are still key, but it’s all part of a bigger communal interest, now dubbed as social impact. This reflects the new role of business schools as a convener: a connector of stakeholders and an initiator of conversations around both global and local issues.
Now, business schools not only look at shareholder interest but also stakeholder interest — in other words, pressing societal concerns, such as sustainability, climate change, ethics, diversity, inclusion and governance.
What challenges do business schools face in keeping their programs relevant?
The main challenge is working effectively within the market matrix. Some 40 years ago, business schools were looking at verticals, mainly disciplines that encompass marketing, finance, accounting, management, IT, strategy and HR. Twenty years later, they started examining horizontals, such as digital transformation, sustainability, data science, innovation, governance and others, and how they intersect with and complement the management verticals. But now, even this matrix, with the intersection between the verticals and horizontals, is not enough. We need to examine the implications on a variety of areas, including business, trade, services, industry, globalization and talent transfer. The difficulty lies in developing an adaptable curriculum that remains valid and relevant in this ever-changing landscape.
The difficulty lies in developing an adaptable curriculum that remains valid and relevant in this ever-changing landscape.
Do you see AI as a friend or foe?
AI has been around for much longer than many people realize, from Winston Churchill’s 1943 underground Cabinet War Rooms that housed the British government’s command center during World War II to human-computer interaction and expert systems in the 1980s to AI as we know it today. It has been gradually affecting our lives and is here to stay. In fact, we’re still scratching the surface. In education, AI affects not just what and how we study but also the facilities and resources available, enhancing productivity and efficiency — and it’s going to mature more and more. These are all positives, of course, but the downside is that AI raises concerns around issues such as ethics, bias, intellectual property rights, accuracy and trustworthiness. The key is learning to use it responsibly. In business education, AI is preparing students to lead in a fast-paced, tech-driven world. AI will not replace humans, but students who are better trained, educated, exposed and adapted will replace those who lack these fundamental skills. I like to think of it as augmented human intelligence backed by advanced technological innovations. It is not artificial.
Why would a business student choose to study business in Egypt instead of the United States or Europe?
Internationalization is not just confined to students traveling and studying abroad; it is an ecosystem. What we do here at AUC — similar to many business schools worldwide — is create cross-cultural exposure for students through international faculty, transnational case studies, incoming international students, global competitions and joint capstone projects in collaboration with other universities. For instance, our Doing Business in the Middle East program, now in its 16th year, gives AUC students the opportunity to interact firsthand with their peers from prominent institutions around the world, including the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Manchester Metropolitan University, China Europe International Business School and McMaster University. Students from both sides exchange perspectives on current business issues in the region through academic classes by our faculty experts, visits to industries and NGOs, as well as meetings with business executives, entrepreneurs, alumni and government officials. AUC students, in turn, also visit business schools in other countries and benefit from the same global experience.
What we do here at AUC — similar to many business schools worldwide — is create cross-cultural exposure for students through international faculty, transnational case studies, incoming international students, global competitions and joint capstone projects in collaboration with other universities.
How do you see business education evolving in the next decade?
The future of business education will highly depend on the intersection of people, technology and data. Just as open working spaces are becoming prevalent, there will be open learning spaces. Less time will be spent in the classroom, and more time will be spent off campus in companies, factories, as well as civil society and community development organizations. Business schools and higher education at large are going to be completely different. The knowledge is there online, so what can faculty uniquely offer that students don’t already have access to? It’s the critical thinking approach that they bring to the classroom. Faculty will not deliver content but will instigate conversations to come up with solutions, and this will be enhanced through hands-on programs such as Cooperative Education (Co-Op), internships and experiential learning opportunities. This approach — teaching students how to think, not what to think — develops leaders who are innovative, adaptable and creative problem solvers.
This approach — teaching students how to think, not what to think — develops leaders who are innovative, adaptable and creative problem solvers.
During Sherif Kamel’s tenure as dean, the Onsi Sawiris School of Business earned its triple crown accreditation, placing it among the top 1% of business schools worldwide; maintained its Financial Times global ranking in executive education; and expanded its international footprint through new partnerships and affiliations. Kamel has championed innovation in teaching and learning, launching the region’s first Co-Op Program as well as integrating sustainability and global challenges into the curriculum. He is the immediate past chair of the board of directors of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and serves on the board of directors of the Central Bank of Egypt. A renowned scholar, Kamel published his debut book, Leading Change in Challenging Times: Lessons of Disruption and Innovation in Egypt, a collection of his reflections and observations on the school’s institutional history as well as business leadership advice.
After completing his master’s degree in business administration at AUC, Amir Barsoum (MBA ’08) took the business world by storm, creating companies that serve millions of people and redefining the region’s tech-based industries.
As the founder and CEO of digital healthcare platform Vezeeta, Barsoum was named a Fortune 40 Under 40 global health leader. He went on to create InVitro Capital, a venture builder based in California, and serves as a co-founder and investor of at least four other companies.
Starting at AUC, Barsoum’s journey has taken him through a quick career in consulting, an executive degree at MIT and a lifetime of pursuing his passion of building companies. “I never expected anything.
I was trying to build something that I liked and enjoyed and, at the same time, had a cause. But we were always hoping and dreaming that it would become a major player in the healthcare market,” says Barsoum of Vezeeta, his first company to take off.
"I was trying to build something that I liked and enjoyed and, at the same time, had a cause.
A CEO in the Making
Barsoum encountered his business origins at AUC after completing a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical studies at Ain Shams University, though the plan was always to operate on the business side of things. “AUC provided a fantastic opportunity to start this early on in my career,” says Barsoum. “That’s when I really got to see the world from a business angle rather than only through pharmacology and the technical aspects.”
“AUC provided a fantastic opportunity to start this early on in my career."
Barsoum further describes the University as his “gateway to the world.” He says, “AUC opened my eyes to horizons I never imagined and made me believe they were within reach. It’s not just a university — it’s the region’s strongest fortress of innovation and talent. Without AUC, I wouldn’t have dared to start this journey, let alone push it through.”
When Layla Mohsen ’25 was in middle school, she got a note from her physics teacher predicting that she would be “Egypt’s first rocket scientist.”
“That really impacted me because he believed in my potential,” she says. “I loved space as a child, read Stephen Hawking books when I was 13 and was enchanted by superheroes. My favorite superhero was Tony Stark [Iron Man], who was a genius in computer science and embedded systems, and I wanted to be like him.”
Today, 23-year-old Mohsen is one step closer to fulfilling her dream. She is a software developer at Princeton Satellite Systems in New Jersey, working on all types of spacecraft vehicles. She worked there as a summer intern during her senior year at AUC. After graduation, she continued to work with the company. “I was determined to utilize my computer science skills in aerospace,” Mohsen says. “I applied to many aerospace companies around the world, but what I liked the most about Princeton Satellite Systems is how software-intensive it is and how life-changing the projects are. We work on nuclear fusion space reactors, for example, and I find that fascinating.”
As a fresh graduate, Mohsen initially felt challenged by the fact that most of her work colleagues took aerospace engineering courses as undergrads at Ivy League schools. “I had to do intensive self-study and research so as not to fall behind,” she says, acknowledging the flexibility she had at AUC in choosing space-related topics for her projects. “In my Fundamentals of Machine Learning course, for instance, I focused my research on exoplanet detection. Those projects helped a lot with my job application because it showed I worked on research connected to the space industry.”
