Legorreta Project Director Miguel Almaraz comes to this AUC collaboration with 30 years of professional experience, providing design, planning and management services for a wide range of projects in Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Encompassing all types of projects including residential, commercial and educational, Almaraz’s work prioritizes attention to detail and integration, which plays an important role in his designs.

Legorreta has designed AUC’s University Residences and Campus Center. How is it like returning to work with AUC?

It's an honor collaborating with one of the most influential universities in the Middle East and one that has a lot of history. AUC was my first project in the Middle East. When we did designs for AUC in the first phase more than 15 years ago, it was one of my first projects in the office. I was a newcomer; now I'm a partner. To come back after all these years and see how it has matured and developed is really special. We say our projects are like our children: When you let them go, you're very sad and hope that they're taken good care of. When I saw the AUC campus, it was clear it was very well taken care of. To come back and work on another building, the TRI-Lab, is just wonderful and very meaningful to Legorreta.

What do you see as the impact of the TRI-Lab for students and AUC community members?

The TRI-Lab brings together many disciplines. In a way, it's like a new program that 's developing throughout the world, mainly in U.S. universities but also in Latin America and Australia. Being part of this project and new development is very exciting for us. It's going to have a big influence on the practical educational approach where there is hands-on academic work while being able to work with companies at the same time. Students will experience what the real world is like. This is going to have an influence on new models of education and the concept of interdisciplinarity, bringing together fields such as engineering, arts, philosophy and history. It’s very exciting.

What are you looking forward to the most?

The challenge — and big opportunity — of integrating this project well with the existing campus, while making it feel contemporary yet not divorced from the past. 

The University Residences had a Mexican influence and style, and the Campus Center was designed to allow flexibility in the use of spaces. What is your vision this time?

Throughout history, we've assimilated the architecture and culture of the Islamic world in Spain, which was home to a Muslim civilization for nearly 800 years. Then Spain conquered Mexico. So there are a lot of elements that even though they're Mexican, they're inspired unconsciously by Islamic architecture. With the TRI-Lab, there are two important things to consider: the architectural elements and the human part of it. It needs to be a building that is inviting to promote interaction between students, connecting the exterior with the interior. In this particular project with so many disciplines, we’re inspired by the souqs (markets) because of the multiple and varied uses, distinct areas and elements in the souq that coexist under one canopy. We feel that the TRI-Lab has a similar quality of being a space with multiple distinct uses that remains part of a larger structure. That’s our biggest source of inspiration for this project.  

DLR Group is a globally recognized design firm assigned to design the expansion of AUC New Cairo's upcoming Extended Education Hub and NextGen Student Living and Learning Spaces, which are part of AUC's visionary Campus 2026 development project, with an ethos of creating spaces that emphasize learning and social development. With over 31 offices worldwide, DLR Group’s expansive talent will be involved in this project, with teams from the United States and Dubai offices working to provide a holistic and integrated design solution.

We sat with Principal and DLR Group Design Director Scott Pryde to learn about the team's design philosophy and inspiration.

What's the significance of this collaboration with AUC?

The collaboration with The American University in Cairo is of significant importance. We were delighted to learn of our involvement in the design of the future campus. The DLR Group team has been working closely with the AUC team and selected consultants to define a clear brief that will respect the future aspirations of the campus and its extended master plan. As an architect, I see this as an essential opportunity to contribute to the success of AUC’s community and create a balanced and harmonious addition to this future environment. 

You’ll be working on the Extended Education Hub and NextGen Student Living and Learning Spaces. What is your primary focus?

Our initial mission is a comprehensive analysis of the existing campus functionality, identifying its achievements and areas of improvement. We have dedicated a significant amount of time in consultation with President Ahmad Dallal, faculty members and various focus groups. This in-depth research has allowed us to gain a holistic understanding of each facet of the campus's components, integrated design elements and spatial relationships to ensure the new structures seamlessly harmonize. Our primary focus is on cultivating a nuanced comprehension of how these new building offers will impact the overall campus and its surrounding community.

How is this project unique from others you’ve worked on?

As an architect, this project feels like an architectural pilgrimage. The vibrant campus has beautiful buildings and landscapes, offering something new to discover everywhere you look. Students clearly love these spaces. A seamless array of buildings and spaces linking the campus as a whole. The importance of considering the project from an outside perspective, understanding how the buildings will respond to their context, reviewing the design guidelines of the existing campus, alongside the levels and general constraints of the site will be an important start to develop a clear strategy of how these design elements will come together. 

What are you looking forward to the most?

The DLR Group is excited to work with the fantastic team on campus, whether they are students or part of the leadership team. We are very much looking forward to developing this project to ensure it captures a deeply rooted response culturally, dynamically and with all principles as part of our journey of design with all stakeholders. Our aim is to ensure our outcome will benefit the campus for the next 50 to 100 years. This project's success will be a lasting achievement for AUC and indeed Cairo as a whole. 

What’s your vision for the designs?

We're focused on understanding the local culture and environment to ensure we create the right buildings for the people who will use them. People are our top priority. In terms of design, we are studying how to use passive design and Egypt's climate to make our buildings and landscapes more energy-efficient for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting. We're also looking ahead to a future with zero carbon emissions. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach; we need to consider all these aspects together.

What elements will you incorporate into the designs to preserve the AUC identity?

It's crucial to respect the essence of the AUC campus when working with buildings that have such a unique history and character. Architecturally, we anticipate a consistent and grounded design theme that harmonizes with the campus, emphasizing technology and renewable energy. We aim to link the existing spaces with the new additions seamlessly. Understanding the sourcing and usage of materials is vital. At this early stage, we're developing the framework for these elements and layers to ensure the success of the future campus and indeed its students. 

AUC students won first place worldwide in a competition where 65 international university teams had to develop a sustainable alternative to traditional fats and oils, thereby reducing their carbon emissions and detrimental environmental impact. The AUC team created a unicellular microorganism oil prototype that has a zero carbon footprint.

“I’m so passionate about any research that helps alleviate climate change,” said Yasmin Maghraby ‘03, ‘13, ‘21, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. “At first, I thought our idea would be impossible to produce, so seeing it become a reality was so satisfying and gratifying.”

Headed by Maghraby, the AUC team was composed of graduate students Lereen Khaled, Dalia Kanna, Saif El Din Mofty and Louai Hariri. The competition was launched by Savola during an innovation session at the World Food Forum event, “We're supporting You(th). Open Innovation in the Private Sector,” held collaboratively with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The competition was designed to promote the transformation of agrifood systems to be more sustainable, innovative and socially responsible. 

"It was an incredible opportunity to make a tangible impact and witness the positive results of our efforts,” said Khaled. “This achievement fueled my determination and passion to keep making a difference as well as bridge theory and practice for innovative, real-world solutions. It  inspired me to continue pushing boundaries for a better world.”

The networking experience also provided a unique opportunity for the student participants. “This life-changing experience enriched my ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team and allowed me to engage with experts from Savola, FAO and fellow participants from different countries who share my passion for sustainability, which expanded my professional network and exposed me to different ideas and perspectives,” added Khaled. 

Participants were challenged to develop an alternative to traditional cooking fats and oils, which are not sustainably produced, providing more effective and eco-friendly substitutes that have similar functional properties but use less quantities of water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the process.

“The Savola competition was one of the greatest opportunities I had as an AUC graduate student,” said Kanna. “Our goal was to search for green edible oil substitutes prepared using green methods. Teamwork was essential -  we held brainstorming sessions, designed plans, discussed strengths and weaknesses of each proposed idea based on the available literature, assigned roles, conducted experiments, analyzed the results and prepared the final presentation. We also built new friendships and were able to work with experts in the field, enhancing our intellectual and practical skills.” 

Tamer Shoeib, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry, noted, “This shows clearly our commitment to excellence and the caliber of our students who are able to tackle problems of relevance and create highly impactful solutions to unmet, real-world needs. I am incredibly proud of our AUC team.” 

What do geographers, anthropologists, artists, engineers, botanists, pottery experts, photographers, Egyptologists and archaeologists have in common? Every single one has an important place at an excavation. 

“You know, excavations nowadays are no longer just an Egyptologist with a brush. It's a huge, interdisciplinary team,” laughs Marleen De Meyer, the William Kelly Simpson Visiting Professor in Egyptology at AUC.

De Meyer appreciates this aspect of her job: There’s a place for everyone, and the more diverse your team is, the more detailed and fascinating the portrait of ancient civilizations can become. From the various medical conditions they had down to the type of paint used for their coffins, an amazing amount of detail can be deduced from the barest remains. But how exactly do all the pieces come together in the field? The answer is in a lot of expert, detailed teamwork.

Focusing on a site in Middle Egypt called Dayr al-Barsha, De Meyer co-directs an archaeological project that is the first major excavation at this location since 1915. “The necropolis has been in use from the beginning of Egyptian history until the very end. Nearly every period is represented there,” she explains.

The team’s research question is much broader than just documenting individual tombs, but rather engages in a full chronological analysis of the area from beginning to end. “What we want is to understand how this site developed through all this time,” says De Meyer. “We're talking several millennia here, not just centuries.” 

De Meyer’s interest is in funerary culture, and Dayr al-Barsha hosts a rich archive to analyze. “Even a plundered tomb is very interesting to an Egyptologist. I mean, just the smallest piece of a coffin is enough to tell you which type was once present,” she says. “The climate here in Egypt is amazing– everything is preserved, even materials that would decay in other circumstances such as wood, textile, human remains, plant remains, and more. This year I excavated a rare Middle Kingdom embalming deposit in which 4000 year old linen bags of natron were perfectly preserved. These materials were used in the mummification process to desiccate the body.” 

Every surviving detail holds significance to a different expert. Botanists, for example, can determine the type of wood used to make a coffin and through this deduce information on the social class of its occupant. Physical anthropologists can look at the way human bones have healed, and at Dayr al-Barsha they were able to determine that successful amputations were performed to manage conditions like diabetes. Geographers examine where the Nile flowed in the past, artists are essential to draw detailed renderings of artifacts, while engineers help with digital scanning and 3D modeling. 

“I sometimes tell students that the best thing to do if you want to end up working on excavations is not necessarily studying Egyptology specifically but rather whatever interests you. Then you can come into the field with a specialty that Egyptologists don't have,” De Meyer says. “Basically, any discipline can help when it comes to archaeology.”

Aside from uncovering historical artifacts that bring us closer to understanding how ancient societies operated, evidence of the more recent past sometimes surfaces during excavations in Egypt as well. “Because of the excellent preservation, anyone who has ever been present at the site often leaves a record of themselves too, even unintentionally,” De Meyer explains. She found newspaper clippings reporting on World War I, left by American Egyptologist George Reisner in 1915. Between 1891 and 1893, a 17-year-old Howard Carter, who 30 years later would be credited with discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun, left his traces: paint tubes and edges of watercolor paper testifying to his work of copying the decoration of several of the tombs on site. 

Alongside the historical records of communities dating back millennia are the century-old traces of researchers who, in the grand scheme of things, might as well have been there yesterday. It all becomes part of the history of the site.

For more information, see https://www.arts.kuleuven.be/dayr-al-barsha 

A week into the most recent conflict in Gaza, News@AUC spoke with Bahgat Korany, political science professor, and Ibrahim Awad, professor of practice in global affairs and director of the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, to gain insight into what the future may hold. 

What's your main take on the situation in Gaza?

Korany: This was a surprise attack that shows an unexpected level of Hamas’s capabilities and an equally unexpected failure of Israel's intelligence services. This attack was probably in preparation for a long time, yet Israel with its technological sophistication –– especially at the border area with an adversary –– couldn't detect it. It is even a greater failure than that of the Israeli intelligence services 50 years ago when the 1973 October war was initiated by the surprise Egyptian-Syrian attack.

Awad: This is a natural consequence of prolonged occupation, complete neglect of the Palestinian question, denying the rights of Palestinian people since 1948, and encroaching on Palestinian land with settlements in the West Bank and elsewhere. Hamas now became very inventive. No one would have expected or imagined that it would go 24 km outside the Gaza borders into Israeli military camps and take control. 

What repercussions will this have on Egypt and the region?

Korany: Egypt will be intensely involved at the geopolitical and humanitarian levels and in trying to stop the fighting. Many international parties, including the United Nations, will be inciting Egypt to carry out efforts in this respect. Regionally, tension will intensify, especially if the Lebanese front and Hezbollah join in. Previous talk about an Israel-Saudi Arabia reconciliation and normalization will be shelved for the time being. The Palestinian issue, away from thinking of the problem mainly in terms of normalization between Israel and other Arab States, will be brought to the forefront. The world has been reminded that the Palestinian issue is the core of the conflict.

Awad: Any instability in the region will have consequences for all countries, whether in trade, tourism or other aspects. Year after year, conditions of life have deteriorated for Palestinians,  becoming more constrained and unbearable, and this only makes things worse. No region will live in durable peace or stability –– nor will its countries develop –– if the Palestinian question is not settled. In order to develop, countries need to have sustained economic activity, growth, education policies, health care, agricultural production  –– how can you sustain economic activity in conditions where violence could erupt at any time? You need a peaceful and productive environment to ensure stability; otherwise, sudden outbursts like these will continue. It’s in everybody’s interest to settle the Palestinian question seriously and resourcefully. 

What about Israel ordering the evacuation of 1.1 million Palestinians from Gaza?

Korany: The Israeli pressure on 1.1 million Palestinians to leave their homes is primarily self-serving for Israel. It aims to perpetuate the idea of Palistinians as a group of refugees and not a people worthy of their own state. It could also allow Israeli settlers to occupy this Palestinian land, as happened in the past and is in fact a characteristic of settler colonialism. Palestinians should defend their homes and keep their land. They should resist the invading army rather than be reduced to a group of refugees as Israel wants the world to look at them.

Awad: History must not repeat itself. The 1950 Israeli Absentee Property Law allowed for the confiscation of the homes, assets and land belonging to Palestinians who were forced to flee before and during the 1948 War, giving them to Jewish immigrants. This should not happen again. Palestinians should not be evacuated, in reality expelled, from their land; otherwise, the Palestinian question will gradually vanish. The question is not Hamas or any other group. If Hamas is gone, others will emerge so long as Palestinians are not given their rights, protected, and allowed to live in peace and to develop and prosper. 

Is there hope for a peaceful conflict resolution?

Korany: Potential conflict resolution will take time. But there could be hope for conflict management to avoid repeated flare-ups and atrocities, especially for Israel and its allies to realize that the continuation of occupation doesn't guarantee stability. 

Awad: A solution is possible, but how close or far we are from it is something we can’t predict at the moment. Power disparities exacerbate the situation because the stronger party has no incentive to compromise. The two parties should be willing to negotiate, and the regional international community needs to create the conditions in which there is a balance of power conducive to a serious peace settlement. 

How do you think this conflict will end?

Korany: We will finally have a ceasefire after all the destruction and atrocities, especially in Gaza. However, this conflict will not end soon. We will move to a different stage of the conflict. 

What are the main lessons learned from this crisis?

Korany:

• The present status-quo of the Israeli 56-year occupation and siege is not synonymous with stability.
• Various debates will intensify in Israel that will add to its domestic crisis. After this glaring and costly failure of Israeli intelligence services in identifying the Hamas attack and preparing for it, there will be demands for explanation and accountability. For instance, when these intelligence services failed to warn of the 1973 Egyptian-Syrian attack, a special inquiry commission, the Agranat Commission, was formed. In the case, the demands for inquiry and general criticism of the government will be directed against the policies of this right-wing government and will come not only from the political opposition parties but also from Israeli society as a whole. These domestic debates will add to an already polarized Israeli society.
• Whatever reconciliation/normalization agreements take place between Israel and its Arab neighbors, such as the 1979-Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty and the 2020-Abraham Accords, are not able to end the conflict. 
• As long as the core Palestinian issue is not addressed, the conflict will continue, with occasional intifadas and flare-ups that have varying degrees of violence. 

Awad:

• Those who have the upper hand are not immune from threats to their security and peace. 
• Had there been serious consideration of reaching a humane, politically just and durable settlement for the Palestinian question, we would not have reached this stage. 
• A settlement will change all narratives and impose a different narrative. When two parties are at war, the natural narrative is hostility and vanquishing the other. If an agreement is reached, this will impose a new vision, and the two sides will have to live with this settlement, suppressing any narrative of animosity and continuous conflict. However, for this to be effective, the settlement has to be just and durable ––  a settlement that allows Palestinians, in their own state, and other Arab states to fully exercise their independence and sovereignty, which is the condition for peaceful cooperation in the region.
• To solve any problem, you have to disentangle the complex, interwoven factors as events unfold. The Palestinian question has to be addressed at its roots. 

Atta Gebril, professor of applied linguistics and associate dean for graduate studies and research in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, has won the prestigious Abdul Hameed Shoman Award for Arab Researchers for his work in the area of applied linguistics. 

Praised for its focused research agenda, international reputation and impactful publications, Gebril's work focuses on second language assessment, particularly writing assessment, test validation,  assessment literacy, and reading-writing connections. His work is valuable and relevant to both applied linguistics researchers, language professionals and test developers. 

“AUC has been instrumental in helping me work on my research projects and pursue my research agenda,” Gebril said. “I owe a lot to AUC and the research support resources we have on campus. I found nothing but help and support from different AUC entities.”

Gebril’s research has broad impact, targeting participants from many different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and geographic locations. He has published as both a sole author and collaborator in top journals within his field, and has used a wide range of advanced quantitative and qualitative techniques.

“I am really honored and humbled to win this prestigious research award. I am also deeply grateful to the Abdel Hameed Shoman Foundation and the selection committee for recognizing my contribution to the field of applied linguistics. I have to also acknowledge the enormous support I have received throughout the years from my research partners, mentors, and of course my family. Their support and encouragement have been instrumental throughout my research journey. Finally, this award motivates me to explore new areas for my research, to continue my commitment to excellence, and hopefully make a meaningful impact on my research trajectory.” - Atta Gebril

Teaching courses on assessment in language assessment, thesis writing and research methods in applied linguistics, Gebril is a valuable member of the AUC community. He received several awards in recognition of his work, including the Scopus award representing the highest-impact scholarship in the field of education in Egypt from Elsevier and Egyptian Knowledge Bank and the Best Article Award in the field of language Testing from the International Language Testing Association in 2018. 

“I couldn't have been able to  achieve this without the excellent research environment at AUC. I am really proud to be part of the AUC community and always will be.”

Far from one-size-fits-all, mental health care is deeply personal. Between individuals, communities and cultures, mental health and the issues surrounding it take on a variety of looks. So what can psychologists, especially those working cross-culturally, do to make sure that the care they’re providing is hitting the mark?

“Even simple things, like terms such as ‘depression’ or even ‘mental health’ itself carry different connotations across cultural backgrounds,” said Gurusewak Khalsa, associate professor of practice in the Department of Psychology. “We might have to throw these terms out completely and find a way to use not just the technical language that a community is using, but also their own description of what it means to be depressed, what it means to feel anxious, what it means to have psychiatric disorders –– everything.” 

The idea of translation in mental health care stretches far beyond language. Each society understands and addresses mental health issues in a different way, so it's important for counselors who have been trained in a cultural background different than their clients to address this potential gap in order to be able to provide effective support. To navigate this, discussing mental health must be approached flexibly and responsively. 

“A lot of people in the field of mental health have really good intentions. Those intentions can end up causing harm when we apply them without attention to the cultural context of who we’re working with,” said Khalsa. “It’s your responsibility to learn as much as you can about your clients’ values and beliefs, and develop an understanding of their experience. And then any intervention or support should be based on that understanding rather than solely your training.”

The more that mental health care can match its context and individual recipient, the more people can access support that is meaningful to them. That requires shifting away from a rigid idea of what these concepts mean and adopting a fluid, adaptive approach to how mental health care functions. 

“It’s important that we, as a profession, first try to understand and recognize the needs of the community or people we are serving from their own perspective before developing plans for support,” Khalsa said. “We can also make sure we are including a focus on the community’s strengths–things that are already working well–and help the community grow and develop those strengths to other areas, rather than falling into a trap of starting from a place where only see or recognize things that seem wrong or broken.”

Mental health care access is a topic discussed across the world, showing up in a variety of ways transnationally. Physical and economic barriers affect access, alongside social factors such as stigma. But amidst the continuing conversation, the first step is to be able to get in the room.

“Sometimes the first step is the biggest one. If we can make that first step comfortable and supportive, then we’ve addressed a large barrier to the situation.” said Khalsa. “Meeting that [first step] with flexibility, with both personal and cultural awareness can play an important role in addressing mental health issues in any context.”

To find out more about mental health resources at AUC, visit the AUC Wellbeing webpage.

“Something many don’t know is that as a Cairo University undergrad, Saad [Eddin Ibrahim] took extension classes in English at AUC and read in the old Hill House library.  Once appointed to the faculty, his affection for AUC grew with each new batch of students. While Saad never wavered from his civic activism, I truly believe he was most fulfilled when in a sociology classroom teaching.”

This is how Barbara Ibrahim, who served as founding director of AUC’s John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy, Civic Engagement and Responsible Business, described her husband’s affinity and longstanding relationship with AUC and its students. Saad Eddin Ibrahim taught sociology at AUC for 33 years, after which he returned to the University as an adjunct professor and was later named professor emeritus. 

Ibrahim was raised in Daqahliyah, a rural town on the Nile Delta. He graduated with honors in sociology from Cairo University, where he was president of the student union. He moved to the United States in 1962, earning a master’s in sociological development from the University of California, Los Angeles – where he later taught political sociology – and a doctorate in political sociology from the University of Washington. Before joining AUC, he taught sociology from 1967 to 1974 at DePauw University, where he met his wife of 50 years Barbara, who was a DePauw student at the time. 

An award-winning public intellectual, scholar, author and human rights advocate, Ibrahim is co-editor of Arab Society: Class, Gender, Power, and Development (1998) with the late Professor Emeritus Nicholas S. Hopkins, and author of Egypt, Islam, and Democracy: Critical Essays (2002) – both AUC Press publications. He has written extensively on Islam, politics, democracy and civil society, and "his work remains a central reference for students and scholars in the field," said Provost Ehab Abdel-Rahman in a message to the AUC community.

Colleagues also attest to his scholarly expertise and camaraderie.

“Saad Eddin Ibrahim was a prolific scholar-activist whose work on the sociology of the Middle East, particularly democratization and civil society, was influential in my own work on gender and democratization in the region when I first joined AUC as an assistant professor of sociology,” said Helen Rizzo, associate professor of sociology and head of the sociology unit at AUC. “Moreover, he was a supportive and caring departmental colleague, and his sense of humor made for entertaining departmental meetings. He will be missed.”

What Former Students Have to Say

AUC has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme in Egypt to promote knowledge exchange, sustainability, student engagement and entrepreneurship as well as support the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Egypt.

The collaboration is dedicated to getting involved on campus through programming such as hackathons and boot camps, sustainable campus initiatives and student-led outreach activities. Emphasizing evidence-based approaches to policy and programming, the partnership will use the expertise of AUC’s labs and centers. It will also offer students practical experience, mentorship opportunities and internships to prepare them as future leaders.

 “We aim to tackle key policy and development topics, conduct action-oriented research and foster knowledge-sharing initiatives,” said AUC President Ahmad Dallal. “By aligning our efforts with Egypt’s national priorities, we aim to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving a lasting impact on the communities we serve.”

The partnership signals a commitment to using the combined expertise, resources and networks of both organizations to create lasting and positive change for Egyptian citizens while contributing to the nation’s overarching goals. “Together, we’ll work toward a future of progress, innovation and sustainable impact,” said UNDP Egypt Resident Representative Alessandro Fracassetti. 

What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and educational leadership?

Mustafa Toprak, associate professor of educational administration and policy in the Department of Educational Studies, has studied the link between emotion and cognition, specifically how school administrators with emotional competencies are more likely to generate positive attitudes and behavior. 

“School administrators who are well aware of their emotions and those of others, who can regulate their own and others’ emotions through active and empathetic listening, and who can cultivate positive relationships with others can help teachers reframe their negative emotions in difficult times and build their ability to rebound from adversity," Toprak said.

Emotional intelligence helps educational leaders and teachers improve their positive affectivity and thereby increases their affective well-being. Toprak’s research, which has involved surveying school administrators and teachers about their workplace experience, shows that teachers' emotional intelligence significantly reduces stress, anxiety, burnout, and psychosomatic complaints, including heart disease, back pain, headaches, gastrointestinal disturbances (physical), loss of concentration, and poor decision-making (mental). 

When asked why he would advise school administrators to apply his research in their daily work, Toprak noted, “School administrators feel pressure from various sources inside and outside schools. I recommend that they take care of themselves first. They should know their emotionality well by regularly engaging in a meta-emotion (thinking about emotions) practice, which requires stepping out of the moment and asking: “What is my emotion now?” and “Is this emotion helpful for my interactions with the individuals I work with?”. Donald Schön’s terms reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action are relevant and helpful for school administrators. School administrators who reflect on their emotional state during an interaction (reflection-in-action) and after an interaction (reflection-on-action) are more likely to adjust their negative emotions and transform them into positive ones. As my research shows, this practice improves the well-being of administrators and increases their capacity to create a positive work experience.”   

“Compassion, kindness, and forgiveness are other essential qualities for school administrators who want to develop a positive school climate in which people are innovative and risk-taking," Toprak continued.

The evidence-based practice of emotionality also has implications for teachers. Just like a school administrator’s emotional state and well-being set the emotional tone of the school, a teacher’s emotional state and well-being largely set the emotional tone of a classroom. 

“Students with an emotionally inept teacher may have trouble understanding and regulating their emotions because of the absence of an adult who can model the display of positive emotions under stress,” Toprak explained. “A teacher who has difficulty managing anger, who projects negative emotions, who is not empathetic, and who prefers to talk and dictate than listen is likely to create a classroom environment characterized by negativity and toxicity that is detrimental to students’ motivation to learn.”

Understanding the demands of emotional intelligence, building a knowledge base, and training are a few of Toprak’s recommendations for school administrators and teachers who seek to improve their emotional well-being. 

“Start by reading,” he advised. “Self-motivation is a significant ingredient of emotional intelligence. I recommend reading Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ and Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence.”

Toprak has authored numerous publications on emotions and educational leadership and is already making an impact by providing a model for school leadership. In “Managing Emotions in Schools: Insights from Religion Sources and a Model for School Leadership”, a chapter he co-authored in the book titled Islamic-based Educational Leadership, Administration, and Management: Challenging Expectations through Global Critical Insights, he provides the details of this model and highlights the connection between culture and emotion management, demonstrating how culture influences the way educational leaders and teachers display and suppress their emotions.