Tarek Shawki: ‘It’s Wonderful to Be Back’
For Tarek Shawki, his new position as University counselor means more than just maintaining collaborative relationships with universities in Egypt, the Supreme Council of Universities, and the Egyptian government. It’s returning to the University he calls home.
“It’s wonderful to be back with colleagues and friends,” said Shawki, who was dean of AUC’s School of Sciences and Engineering from 2012 to 2015 and senior strategic adviser to the AUC president for education and outreach before serving as Egypt’s minister of education and technical education for more than five years. “AUC is a great institution that keeps getting bigger and having more impact, so I'm glad to be back with a group of competent professionals to help the University advance even further.”
Beyond liaising and strengthening relationships between AUC and all sectors of the Egyptian government, Shawki is excited about his new position with regard to promoting innovative projects undertaken by both AUC and Egypt, not just in education but sustainable development as well. “We’re trying to capitalize on the strengths of both the University and Egypt at large,” he said. “AUC has a lot to offer in academic excellence and teacher training, in addition to the tools and know-how for enhancing K-12 and higher education in Egypt. My job is to ensure that as AUC excels and develops, it continues to contribute to the country where it's located.”
Shawki is a global expert when it comes to reimagining classical systems of education. Before joining AUC, he served as director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States as well as secretary-general and chair of Egypt’s Presidential Specialized Council for Education and Scientific Research. With a PhD in engineering and master’s degrees in solid mechanics and applied mathematics from Brown University, Shawki is renowned for his work in the field of theoretical and applied mechanics and was an engineering professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for 13 years before returning to Egypt.
As University counselor, Shawki’s priority is building on AUC’s national contributions and making sure its influence is felt outside Egypt as well. “We must communicate to the public and to policymakers the huge role that AUC plays in the higher education scene in Egypt, from establishing public school scholarships to supporting research efforts with national universities and helping implement international projects such as USAID educational initiatives in Egypt,” Shawki said. “AUC is not a foreign body in Egypt. It is an active University that helps Egyptian students inside and outside its campus, plays a significant role in the country’s research output, and creates meaningful impact in the region and beyond.”
Favorite movie: Lord of the Rings and Disney movies because they both require a lot of imagination.
Favorite book: Yawmiyat Na’ib fil Aryaf (The Diary of a Countryside Prosecutor)
Favorite music:
Arabic music of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim Hafez and Mohamed Abdel Wahab
Syrian stanzas
Classical music for composers such as Beethoven, Handel, Vivaldi and Haydn
Modern singers, such as Assala, Angham and Hussain Al Jassmi
Mahraganat (electronic folk music or working-class rap) because I like to know what people are talking about
Hobby:
Writing, since I developed a love of fountain pens at a young age
Indulging in the art of things –– the artistic side, craftsmanship, technology and mechanics of pens, cars, watches and other tools around us
Favorite food: Italian and French
Favorite AUC memory: When I was informed by former Provost Medhat Haroun that I was selected as dean of the School of Sciences and Engineering because after 14 years at UNESCO, this was a return to academia where I feel most comfortable.
Accomplishments most proud of:
Reimagining Egypt’s K-12 educational system, building new curricula, starting from scratch. When children and parents come up to me and talk about how they’ve been inspired, that is very rewarding because I feel I’ve touched the souls of young Egyptians.
Egyptian Knowledge Bank’s wide reach and enlightenment impact
Something people don’t know about you:
I spent grades 9-12 in military high schools in Syria and completed a two-year military service in Egypt.
World issue you want to solve:
Developing the human element.
How new generations are adapting to the fast pace of technology, social media and AI
How to prepare kids around the world for a future that changes at an unpredictable rate: skills, education, ethics and values
Why new generations don’t stick to a job for long
Why divorce rates are getting higher
