AUC Appoints Mahmoud Abdallah as Senior Advisor to the President for Enterprise Risk Management and Strategy
The American University in Cairo (AUC) announced today the appointment of Mahmoud Abdallah, a world-renowned expert in the insurance and financial industries and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MISR Insurance Holding Company and Executive Vice President of American Re Group, as senior advisor to the President for enterprise risk management and strategy.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mahmoud to the AUC family,” said Francis J. Ricciardone, AUC President. “He is an extremely reputable leader in the risk management and strategy sectors and I am certain that he will be a valuable resource for the University at this important time in its history.”
“I am excited to be joining The American University in Cairo and look forward to adding value to this great university and building on their solid track record of success,” Abdallah said. “As a leading global institution of higher education, AUC is fully cognizant of the importance of a well-designed and executed Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program,” he added.
Commenting on the appointment of Abdallah, Richard Bartlett, chairman of AUC Board of Trustees said, “This is a significant step forward for our University as we continue to adopt the global best practices of the leading universities in the world.”
The majority of the world’s leading institutions of higher education have integrated formal Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) in daily decision-making at all management levels.
Abdallah will work closely with AUC administration, faculty and Board of Trustees to provide assessments of risks and opportunities, and develop proposals for long-term planning, strategies and policies to mitigate risks via a stakeholder-dialogue approach.
At AUC, he will be contributing to the University’s establishment of world-class Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) processes across University operations, making sure senior leaders and the board of trustees are apprised of the most critical risks to achievement of the University’s mission and objectives -- including real property holdings, supply chain management, budget processes and financial services.
As the founder and managing partner of MMA Global Investments LLC, an investment firm, and MMA Global Advisors, a strategic advisory firm, Abdallah has over 35 years of experience in the insurance and financial industry, including real estate investment, mergers and acquisitions, consulting, privatization and global initiatives. He is a board member of Validus Holdings, Ltd., a major worldwide provider of reinsurance and insurance, which is publicly traded on the NYSE, and was recently merged with AIG in one of the industry’s largest transactions. He is also on the board of IPR Group Holding in Zurich, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and a member of the National Council for Arts and Sciences at George Washington University. He has formally served a wide variety of public and private boards, including Orascom Hotel and Development, HSBC Egypt, and Egypt Air.