From AUC to St Andrews to Princeton University

A passionate scholar and an outstanding academic, Amr Osman ’00, political science graduate and recipient of AUC’s Public School Scholarship Fund, pursued a career in academia right after graduating from AUC and now holds the position of assistant professor of history at Qatar University. 

After graduating from AUC, Osman was awarded a fellowship in the Department of Arabic Studies at the University. He then traveled to Scotland to teach Arabic at the University of St Andrews, where he received his master’s degree in history. Few years later, Osman was awarded another fellowship at Princeton University to pursue his PhD degree in the Department of Near Eastern Studies. White at Qatar University, Osman was also a fellow at the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin.

“I can’t over-emphasize the value of these scholarships,” said Osman. “They provide precious opportunities to their recipients to receive education that most universities in Egypt do not provide.” According to Osman, the mere experience in an English-speaking institution opens doors to many outstanding and deserving students who would not have been able to come to AUC if it weren’t for the scholarship.  “In my particular case, my AUC education made it possible for me to continue my education abroad in some prestigious universities with a good degree of expectation of how the experience could be. That was important to me, at least psychologically, but also educationally,” explained Osman, who is originally from Tanta, Egypt.

While at AUC, Osman was a freelance writer at the Caravan, the student-newspaper, a delegate in the Model Arab League, and the vice president of the Arab Cultural Association (ACA). “Generally speaking, clubs were very important for socialization and engagement with various communities within AUC. At ACA, we were able to organize book fairs, invite people to talk at AUC, and even present some of our views to our colleagues,” Osman elaborated.

Osman attributes his academic success to the quality of education he received at AUC, the most important of all, his ability to think critically. “I don’t know how my life would have progressed differently had I not received the scholarship to join AUC,” he added. “AUC gave me a good opportunity to discover my potentials. I hope many others can get the same opportunity too.”