AUC's first female student, Eva Habib El Masri '31, joined the University in 1928. 95 years later, AUC women have continued to raise the bar of excellence, from innovations in science and technology to shining successes in business and entrepreneurship. See the history of women at AUC, read about how women have #MadeAUCProud and learn more about the way AUC continues to encourage women's success. 

#MakingAUCProud

STEM

Sara Sabry ‘16 became the first Egyptian Astronaut after flying to space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket in August 2022.

Zainab Mahmoud ‘22, Fatma Elnefaly ‘22, Mayar Khairy ‘22 and Menna Soliman ‘22 were awarded the ministry shield by the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research for their work on developing self-luminous concrete for their graduation theses. 

Business

Multiple AUC alumnae were honored on Forbes Middle East’s 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen for 2023, inlduing Elham Mahfouz '84, Nadia Al Saeed (MBA '92), Abir Leheta '94, Dalia El Baz '95, Abeer Saleh '96, Omnia Kelig '99, Yasmine Khamis '99 and Farida Khamis '00.

Two alumnae, Dina Aly '04 and Fatma El Shenawy ‘14, were honored for their innovation, risk-taking and business savvy at the 2022 Egypt Entrepreneur Awards. 

Athletics

Student athlete Aya Abbas '23 set a new African record and won a bronze medal at the 100m freestyle event at the World Para Swimming Championship in Portugal.

Student athlete and squash player, Hania El Hammamy, won the CIB Egyptian Open and won the Everbright Securities International Hong Kong Squash Open title in 2022.

Government

Anne Aly ‘90 became Australia’s first Muslim Woman minister.

Humanities

Noor Naga’s dark romance novel about the gaps in American identity politics, If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist. 

May El-Ibrashy, Egyptian architectural historian and adjunct professor in the Department of Architecture, won the Prince Claus Fund’s Impact Award. 

Media and the Arts

Marianne Khoury ‘80, producer, director, writer and mentor, was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French head of state for her position as a bridge between artists and industry in Egypt and Europe. 

Eight AUC women took home 13 awards at the 2022 Broadcast Education Association (BEA)’s Festival of Media Arts.

Board of Trustees Meets on Campus 

At its February Cairo meeting last week, AUC’s Board of Trustees engaged in a wide range of discussions including the impact of the most recent devaluation on the University, AUC’s strategic priorities, and updates on academic and student affairs, admissions, institutional advancement, finance, IT and campus facilities. The trustees also attended presentations on the reintegration of the Tahrir Square campus into the life of the University and the Mental Health and Well-Being Initiative, which was launched last summer to create a healthier campus environment for the AUC community.

Making use of their time on campus to connect with members of the community, the trustees sat in on several undergraduate classes, had lunch with students, continued a long-running tradition of dinners with faculty members in their homes and attended an alumni and donor event. They also met with the University Senate and faculty working on climate action. 

The trustees visited the newly launched Eltoukhy Learning Factory for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the School of Sciences and Engineering, an Open Studio Exhibition by graphic design and visual arts students and the opening of Piece of Mind, five original plays on mental health and well-being by AUC students and alumni. During their visit, the University launched the AUC Road to College program, the first-of-its-kind in Egypt providing free online English-language courses to prepare middle and high school students for university.

AUC’s Board of Trustees are volunteers from the United States, Egypt and around the world who contribute their time, expertise and financial resources to support the University, in addition to their fiduciary responsibilities. The trustees do not receive any compensation and come from a range of backgrounds. Meet members of AUC’s Board of Trustees.

“I am 74 years old – I know it is strange for a woman to confess her age.  Our societies are aging and the concept of age is changing. As humanity begins to live longer, lifelong learning will become vital for societies to re-skill and re-adapt individuals to the times and to new economic needs,” said Kadria Abdel-Motaal (MA ‘23) in a  speech she gave as the representative of the graduate class of 2023.

Abdel-Motaal recently graduated from AUC with a master’s in educational leadership. With 74 years of life experience, she agreed to sit down with News@AUC and share her story.

Have you always intended to pursue a master’s degree?

I always wanted to go to medical school, and I was always at the top of my class during the first three years of my bachelor’s degree at Ein Shams University. But at the end of my studies, I got married and had two kids, so I wasn’t at the top of my class as usual. We didn’t have cumulative GPAs at the time — only the last year counted — so I was not allowed to go to postgraduate studies. This left a hole inside myself that I was always determined to fill, one way or another.

What did you do after completing your undergraduate degree?

I first worked as a specialist at the Egyptian National Blood Bank VACSERA, eventually becoming chairwoman and chief executive officer of one of Vacsera’s affiliated companies, the Egyptian Company for Biotech Industries. When I retired from that company at the age of 60, I served as the president of the Heliopolis Academy for Research. We focused on developing and attracting funds for multi-partner research projects. After that, I led the establishment project of Heliopolis University and became the director of its research department.

Wow, you’ve really kept busy. How did you decide to join AUC?

After I retired from Heliopolis University, I asked myself, “What do I want to do?” And I remembered my big old problem, the hole I’ve been wanting to fill. I knew I had to go to postgraduate studies. So I joined the educational leadership program.

Why educational leadership?

I worked closely within academia during the establishment of Heliopolis University, but I never truly belonged to the field of education. I really wanted the academic background on education, and I thought educational leadership was a beautiful program for that goal.

What did being in the classroom teach you that your practical experience had not?

It introduced me to areas I had never considered before, like the social foundation of education, theories of education and theories of human development. I also learned about the professional way to develop a program, based on pedagogical theories and different delivery methods. I learned how to write in a professional and academic way. It was a well-rounded experience from all sides.

What was it like studying with students who are younger than you?

 From day one, I was in the mindset of being a student. I was not the boss or the director, I was just a simple student. So, the other students dealt with me as their colleague, there was no real age barrier. If anything, they injected me with some youth. I was very pleased that there were no complications at all. I was able to meet a group of people that were different from my usual social network, and the majority were women — which is very impressive. It was an enlightening and humbling experience.

What did your family think of your decision to pursue a master’s degree?

They were incredibly supportive; they were really the driving force behind me. They would tell me, “Remember to apply, you’re going to miss the deadline!” or “What did you write for your application, let me see.” Even at graduation, they drove me to the ceremony like I was a child whose parents were taking me to my first day of school. Learning and education is very important in my family.

Why do you think lifelong learning is so important?

Continuous learning is crucial. People are living so long now that they can retire and still have another 20 years of life, yet many spend those years sitting and waiting. There’s a misconception that your life is done after your career. It’s not! Knowledge continues to be discovered, and the things my generation learned 50 years ago are totally different now. We need to continue to educate and recreate ourselves.

What’s next for you?

I have many things I want to do. I hope to join a PhD program and I also want to publish my master’s thesis. My thesis was on expanding the culinary arts higher education in Egypt. Culinary arts is not represented in Egyptian higher education, even though it is a multidisciplinary field that involves different areas of study, such as food biology, food chemistry, history and sociology. This is a major pillar of the tourism industry; you hear people talking about the pyramids when they visit, but not the local cuisine. There are not many Egyptian restaurants abroad and our food is misappropriated into other nationalities’ cuisines. My next step is to use my education and my experience to contribute to filling this gap in higher education.

Universities around the world are facing fresh concerns brought on by the use of artificial intelligence, as newly launched programs like ChatGPT and Chatsonic allow users to enter a question and receive a structured essay in response. Ethically, is using these programs cheating the system or does it merely optimize efficiency? Logistically, if a professor wanted to ban the use of ChatGPT, is there a way to check for AI usage in their students’ work? 

Keep an eye out for AI-generated content in this article and see if you can spot where it was used.

What is AI-generated content?

AI generated content is created using Artificial Intelligence technology. This technology uses algorithms to analyze large sets of data and create content that is tailored to the specific requirements of a given project. AI technology is also capable of learning from past experiences, allowing it to continually improve its accuracy. 

Programs like ChatGPT and Chatsonic use this AI technology to create a bot that can respond to questions a user asks it. To generate the paragraph above, I asked Chatsonic: “How does AI-generated content work?” 

Take note: the paragraph uses incorrect capitalization, is quite vague and the first sentence is repetitive (“Artificial Intelligence-generated content is created using Artificial Intelligence technology”- not helpful). The effectiveness of the program, in addition to the ethics of students using it, are major concerns for instructors.

Are these programs allowed at AUC?

At the moment, AUC has not instituted any University-wide policy regarding the use of AI, instead allowing faculty to dictate its use on a case-by-case basis. While many of these programs are not accessible in Egypt, tech-savvy students can utilize virtual private networks (VPN) to work around this problem. 

The University’s Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) has been hosting community circle conversations to introduce this technology to faculty members.

“The community circle conversations aim to empower faculty with enough knowledge of what is possible and all the options they have available to them, whether they eventually choose to ban it, use it with caution or attribution, or embrace it and encourage transparency,” explains Maha Bali ‘01, professor of practice in CLT.

Will AI-generated content hurt learning?

There are some major risks of using AI-generated content. It could lead to plagiarism if students do not take the time to understand the content generated by AI and rewrite it in their own words. Furthermore, if students rely too heavily on AI generated content, this could lead to a lack of originality in their work. AI-generated writing could make students become too reliant on the technology and make them less likely to think critically and creatively. 

Unfortunately, there are no programs currently on the market that can reliably detect AI-generated content. According to Bali, AI text detectors are inaccurate and produce both false negatives and false positives. This means that students could use AI assistance without their professors knowing, making it difficult to prevent.

“I don’t think going after detection is the way to go, to be honest,” says Bali. “I’d rather encourage students to be transparent about their process of how they may have used AI so they can reflect on the value of using AI and see where it helped or hindered them.”

It could be useful, with proper training…

AI generated content could also have some benefits. For instance, AI can help students to get ideas on how to structure their essays, as well as providing them with an understanding of the structure of a well written essay. Additionally, it can provide students with a better understanding of the topic and even provide them with helpful resources to further their knowledge. 

"Similar to Wikipedia, AI tools can also provide students with a general overview about many different topics that may be unfamiliar to them, but then condense these topics into a distilled version for the common reader in a real-time response format," explains Meredith Saba, instructor in the Department of Libraries and Learning Technologies. "AI tools can cut writing and project time, generate notes faster and it can also help students improve their English reading, writing and communication abilities by modeling sentences and structures well."

However, reaping the benefits of AI-generated content requires proper training, according to Saba and other instructors. “For something like ChatGPT to be useful, someone needs to already have a lot of good knowledge about the subject because ChatGPT often makes up inaccurate information,” says Bali. “They also must already be a good enough writer, or else the writing will be generic and disjointed. I think students can learn how to harness ChatGPT by refining their writing prompts so that it produces better quality content.”

In the future, bosses may expect their employees to know how to use AI-generated content. “As a university we may want to consider where in the curriculum we consider this program to be especially useful as a marketable skill,” says Hoda Mostafa, professor of practice and director of CLT. “We must also aim to incorporate it without jeopardizing fundamental learning and intellectual skills.”

But will efficiency sacrifice learning? 

If students are trained to use AI correctly, it could substantially improve their efficiency. However, some argue that students in university should be learning how to write well without assistance. In the same way that students must learn the basics of mathematics by hand before using a calculator, critics of AI-generated content say college is the time to learn the basics through trial and error instead of using a crutch. 

“Students do not write an essay because the professor has a hobby of collecting essays; students write an essay because they need to become better writers and engage with the content of the lessons,” argues Mario Hubert, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, in an op-ed he wrote for CLT. “A university is not a place to find the easiest route to submitting an assignment; rather, a university is a place for mindbuilders.”

In Hubert’s perspective, students are meant to learn how to become good writers by themselves during university. Perhaps AI assistance can be used after they’ve built this skill on their own. 

Maybe the answer is simply “time and place”

Other instructors have expressed that AI-generated content has an appropriate time and place for use. A student in an introductory writing and rhetoric class should not be using the bot, for instance, since the point of the course is to build the skill set. However, it may be permissible in other courses. 

“I think it might be appropriate to use AI in advanced courses where ‘writing’ is not the main learning outcome, and the AI can help students write faster — when they’ve already done the hard work itself of doing an experiment in the lab or researching a topic, and they’re just using the AI to help them put it together,” says Bali.

But wait… is AI-generated content problematic?

In addition to problems with inaccurate information, disjointed writing and removing a student’s authorial voice, AI-generated content also may end up regurgitating problematic perspectives from the data it uses.

“Much of this data is skewed toward Anglo/Western culture and ways of thinking and can therefore reproduce hegemonic knowledge structures in the world,” states Bali. “It is important to remember that ChatGPT is only building on data it has already seen before and synthesizing it into new content based on the prompt. So it will not produce anything extremely creative — just a synthesis of the creativity of other humans over time.”

If AI-generated content is utilizing skewed data, users will have to be careful to ensure they are conveying thoughtful and nuanced perspectives when being assisted by these bots. 

Did you spot the AI? 

Personally, I found the AI-generated content to be bland, disjointed and inconsistent in voice. I often felt like I was editing a freelance writer’s first draft, a writer who I probably would not hire again. You’ll find that I only used the bot’s writing for three paragraphs; I did try to use it more, but I could not get the bot to produce interesting content. 

To be fair, as Bali and Mostafa point out, I have never been trained to use these programs. Perhaps a more experienced individual would be able to coax more impressive content from the bots. The following paragraphs were lifted from Chatsonic with no editing or revision, did you pick them up?

AI generated content is created using Artificial Intelligence technology. This technology uses algorithms to analyze large sets of data and create content that is tailored to the specific requirements of a given project. AI technology is also capable of learning from past experiences, allowing it to continually improve its accuracy. 

There are some major risks of using AI-generated content. It could lead to plagiarism if students do not take the time to understand the content generated by AI and rewrite it in their own words. Furthermore, if students rely too heavily on AI generated content, this could lead to a lack of originality in their work. AI-generated writing could make students become too reliant on the technology and make them less likely to think critically and creatively. 

AI generated content could also have some benefits. For instance, AI can help students to get ideas on how to structure their essays, as well as providing them with an understanding of the structure of a well written essay. Additionally, it can provide students with a better understanding of the topic and even provide them with helpful resources to further their knowledge.

Part of AUC’s Mental Health and Well-being Initiative, Piece of Mind is a bilingual theatrical performance that aims to start conversations about mental well-being, ranging from depression to social media addiction. Written by members of the AUC community, Piece of Mind features five original 10-minute plays that will be performed at AUC's Gerhart Theatre from February 21 to 28. 

“The main goal of Piece of Mind is to raise awareness of mental health and to reduce the stigma around it,” explains Jillian Campana, theatre professor and associate dean for undergraduate education in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. “We hope that audience members will relate to the plays in some way and will feel seen and validated, knowing that they are not alone in what they're going through.”

Piece of Mind was created from scripts submitted in early Fall 2022 by members of the AUC community. Fifty scripts were submitted and a committee of staff, faculty, alumni and students ultimately selected five finalists who received feedback from professional script writers during workshops.

The five plays were perfected over winter break and cover a range of topics, including body image (Hide, written by alumnus Omar Omar in English); attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Dawsha written by student Zeina Shalaby in Arabic); Grief (WARD, written by student Nour El Coptan in Arabic); social media addiction (Alive, written by Campana in English) and Depression (Lissa, written by alum Youssef Omran in English and Arabic). 

"The edits and rewrites helped me refine the play. Thanks to feedback and workshopping from the team, It went from an underdeveloped idea to a story, one that hopefully sends a supporting message about mental health," said Shalaby.

In addition to being performed at the Gerhart Theatre, Piece of Mind will also be seen by local high school students for matinee performances during the week as part of the annual Educational Outreach Theatre production that brings original plays to local schools. 

Piece of Mind is supported by the Mental Health and Well-being Initiative, the Center for Student Well-Being, the Department of Psychology and the Associate Provost for Research and Creative Work. It is produced by the theatre program in the Department of the Arts, School of Humanities and Social Sciences and overseen by Campana and alumni Noah Abdel Razek ‘20.

Faculty members and graduate students from AUC’s Department of Construction Engineering are using virtual reality (VR) to develop and deploy training models that will improve safety at construction sites. These training models allow students to navigate construction sites of bridges and high-rise buildings using VR headsets to visualize hazards, including falls, struck-by injuries, slips and general construction site safety.

“Recent studies show that around 60,000 fatalities occur annually worldwide due to construction accidents,” said Ossama Hosny, professor and graduate program director in the Department of Construction. “It is not just about time, cost and quality but also about safety in the workplace.”

Traditionally, students and construction workers learn about site safety through lectures and textbooks. The new VR models offer a hands-on, innovative way to encourage safe practices. “We have developed new VR-based safety training programs that address the potential hazards associated with some of the riskiest projects in the construction world,” said Ibrahim Abotaleb, assistant professor of construction engineering. “It has been found that lack of proper training is the main cause of on-site construction fatalities.”

Virtual Reality: A New Solution?

Construction VR training programs are becoming increasingly present in the industry worldwide, prompting new research on the effectiveness of VR training compared to traditional training.

Experimental testing of AUC’s models indicated that VR training significantly improved students’ understanding and visualization of safety procedures. 

Research on the safety training models was presented in the Construction Research Congress by the American Society of Civil Engineers in Virginia, USA, and in the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Conference in British Columbia, Canada. It was also published in the Journal of Computer Applications in Engineering Education.

“Based on the results of our studies, the models we developed performed better in terms of visualization, immersion, realism and ability to enhance the desired hazard identification and mitigation skills compared to traditional training programs,” Abotaleb stated. “The developed models are the first in the world to integrate adult learning theories abstracted from psychology into full training modules specialized in high-rise buildings and bridges.”

Student Engagement with Virtual Reality

Working on a full safety model for high-rise building construction as part of her thesis research, construction engineering graduate student Sahar Bader focused on the behavioral aspect of training. She incorporated learning theories to develop a sound methodology that includes motivation, reputation and  problem-solving. 

As part of his master’s thesis, Mohamed Sherif, a graduate student and research assistant, has combined VR and augmented reality to create an immersive safety training model for the construction of bridges and highways, a significant feat due to their importance in Egyptian national projects.

This is not the first time the construction engineering department has introduced VR in their teaching. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Abotaleb managed to provide his students with virtual field trips to construction sites from the safety of their own homes. Using VR, he captured construction sites with a 360-degree camera, recording surroundings, interviewing on-site workers and delivering lectures as if the students were there with him. 

Hosny also has incorporated VR in one of his courses to allow students to better identify and mitigate risks associated with high-rise construction.

Veerle De Laet has been named executive director of AUC Press, the leading English-language publisher in the Middle East. 

Before coming to AUC, De Laet served as managing director and publisher at Leuven University Press in Leuven, Belgium. “AUC Press is a great publishing house with a long history, excellent reputation and appealing international setting,” De Laet said. “Joining was a clear next step in my publishing career.”

Arriving in Cairo less than a month ago, De Laet, Belgium native is optimistic about living and working in the heart of Egypt’s capital. “Coming here is a huge adventure,” she said. “This is my first time in Egypt and in the Middle East. I trust that I will find my way here and that it will be a very positive experience.”

News@AUC sat down with De Laet to learn more about her background and interests.

Tell us about your career experience before joining AUC Press.

I have a background as a cultural historian and started my professional career as a researcher. After that, I entered the world of academic publishing, first as an acquisitions editor then as a managing director and publisher. 

What do you enjoy most about working in academic publishing?

As a former researcher who is now advancing the research of others, it is fulfilling to publish new insights and knowledge to a larger audience. I also enjoy the teamwork aspect of academic publishing; it’s something you don't do on your own, but rather together with a lot of people.

The work is also intellectually fulfilling. Personally, I couldn't work in a publishing house in which decisions, for instance, are mainly made on commercial motives or arguments. For me, as a former academic scholar, the content really matters. The mission-driven aspect of the publishing program is very dear to me.

What will your day-to-day look like at AUC Press?

My role is to oversee all operations at the press. I am also, of course, involved in advancing its publishing program, distribution, regional and global reach and impact. Navigating the constantly evolving world of academic publishing is also an essential part of my work.

It is not, however, a one-woman show. Publishing always is a joint effort. The ties may come together in my role, but of course, it is thanks to the many departments within the press staffed with qualified experts.

What are your priorities in the coming year?

My very first priority is getting acquainted. Then I will work to expand collections lists; add new fields of research, book series and publishing programs; and explore different formats like digital publishing and open-access publishing. This is something I’m quite experienced with, and I think it will be a relevant addition to what AUC Press is already doing.

On a more personal level, I am looking forward to reading Middle Eastern authors. I recently bought a collection of short stories by Yusuf Idris. I also saw a book review on AUC Instructor Noor Naga’s If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English. I would love to read it. 

How have you found Egypt so far?

The Egyptians I’ve met so far are very generous and warm. I’ve found everyone eager to communicate, which I very much like. In a sense I feel almost at home. I trust that I will find my way here and that it will be a very positive experience.

What food have you enjoyed the most since coming here?

I still have to explore Egyptian cuisine. But in terms of drinks, I love sahlab. It’s like a dessert and a drink.

Do you have a favorite book?

Too many to mention. I can instead share with you the top three books I’ve read lately: The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste, Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah and Circe by Madeline Miller.

I think that many of us are biased toward Western literature, so I very much love to read works of fiction and nonfiction from other regions of the world. 

What else do you enjoy doing?

I sing and play the violin. I would like to try to learn singing with the ornamentation or style found in Arabic music.

I also love listening to music. I’m a jazz lover. There are some excellent musicians with a Middle Eastern background that I’d like to mention here: Ghalia Benali, a Tunisian singer living in Belgium; Dhafer Youssef, a Tunisian composer who comes from a family of muezzins; and finally Tamino, a Belgian-Egyptian singer.

What is a fun fact about yourself?

I have exactly the same blue beanie as Charles Lloyd, the jazz musician. I realized this when I saw him performing last fall in London. It was cold that day, and I was wearing my beanie. And when he got on stage, he was wearing the same beanie. I’m really proud of it because I’m a big fan

Ayman Ismail ‘95, ‘97, the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship, associate professor in the Department of Management and founding director of the AUC Venture Lab, and Heba Elsewedy, founder and chair of Ahl Masr Foundation, will be speakers at AUC’s midyear commencement ceremonies. Ismail will be speaking at the graduate ceremony on February 15, and Elsewedy will be speaking at the undergraduate ceremony on February 18.

Watch all commencement speeches live here. 

Ayman Ismail

Ismail is an international expert in entrepreneurship and venture capital with a focus on economic development in the Middle East. He leads a research team that analyzes global entrepreneurship across more than 100 countries and is designing programs to promote entrepreneurship in the Middle East. 

Ismail encourages an entrepreneurial spirit in Egypt as the founding director of the AUC Venture Lab, Egypt’s first university-based startup incubator and accelerator. The Venture Lab was recognized as a high-impact university business incubator in Africa (2014) and MENA (2015) by UBI Global. Under his leadership over the past eight years, the lab has accelerated more than 250 startups, raised more than EGP 3 billion in investments collectively and created more than 8,000 jobs. 

Ismail is a former research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and received a PhD in international economic development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also received a master’s degree in city planning and geographic information systems. He earned a bachelor’s in engineering and an MBA from AUC. 

Heba Elsewedy

Elsewedy founded the Ahl Masr Foundation in 2013 with the goal of treating, preventing and researching trauma and burn injuries. With a background in business and entrepreneurship, Elsewedy was inspired to begin community service work after witnessing an increased number of injuries during the events of January 25, 2011. 

Elsewedy’s foundation is the biggest nonprofit of its kind in the Middle East and Africa –– a testament to her dedication to civil service and humanitarianism. Elsewedy has helped more than 4,000 victims in Egypt and assisted families of victims from conflicts in Libya. In 2016, she began building the Ahl Masr Hospital as the first specialized nonprofit treatment and research center for burn and trauma injuries in the Middle East and Africa. 

Elsewedy holds a bachelor’s in English literature from King Abdul Aziz University and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Cape Breton University, Canada, in 2016.

AUC launched the Excellence Scholarship Program this year, offering scholarships to high-quality students who demonstrate excellence in academic or non-academic endeavors while also considering need. This scholarship, which will initiate its first cohort in Fall 2023, will provide financial support based on a number of criteria and will cover from 20% to 100% of tuition.

“We want to continue building on AUC’s reputation as an outstanding intellectual institution,” explains Provost Ehab Abdel-Rahman. “The Excellence Scholarship Program will attract students who raise the bar for themselves and their peers.”

What are the criteria for the program?

Students who are selected for the scholarship will be expected to show excellence in one or more of the following categories: academic achievement from all high school certificates, international diversity, Egyptian national certificates, talents, leadership and community service, and commitment to liberal arts majors. 

The amount awarded in each scholarship is based on the number of categories in which the student demonstrates excellence. The more areas they excel in, the higher the percentage of their tuition coverage. For instance, a star squash player with an impressive academic record and a commitment to community service will have matched three of the criteria and be awarded the corresponding amount of tuition coverage. While excellence is a necessary condition to compete for this program, financial need is also considered. Those students who demonstrate both merit and need will be highly competitive. Read more about the criteria here. 

“We want to invest in students who have the potential to become agents of change,” states Ahmed Abdel-Meguid, associate provost for enrollment management and professor in the Department of Accounting. “The common characteristic in students to be considered for this program is excellence, meaning those who will contribute to the AUC community and for whom the AUC experience will amplify their impact once they graduate.” 

How will this help the University?

Bringing high-quality students, regardless of their financial circumstances, will help enrich AUC’s community. “The program will enhance diversity at AUC,” says Abdel- Meguid. “It will enable students with skills in sports, arts and music, experience in leadership and community engagement — in addition to students who are interested in pursuing liberal arts majors — to study at Egypt’s top University. It will also attract international students and those from different secondary school educational backgrounds.”

The Excellence Scholarship Program is similar to the University’s previous merit scholarship, but while the merit scholarship only considered academic achievement, the Excellence Scholarship will support students who are both academically elite and diverse in their skills and interests. It will also factor financial need in the allocation.

By expanding the criteria for financial support, this program will raise the standard for AUC students both in and out of the classroom. “Quality comes first,” says Abdel-Rahman. “By seeking incredible students through this program, we will be improving the student body as a whole. They will challenge themselves, their peers and their instructors to be the best they can, and this in turn will produce better graduates.”

How will the University continue to support these students?

The program will encourage students to fully integrate into the AUC community during their time at the University. “We developed a committee that is interviewing former scholarship students on their AUC experience and using that information to improve the experience of the new cohort,” Abdel-Rahman explains. “For instance, in the past, we coordinated activities like leadership workshops that kept students within their respective AUC programs. Now, we will design our workshops to combine students from different programs to encourage a strong and diverse social and academic experience.” 

While the University expects excellence out of its scholarship recipients, it is also prepared to give excellence in return. “Through its well-rounded liberal arts education, AUC provides its students with the knowledge, skills and attitude they will need to accomplish their goals and achieve their dreams after graduation,” Abdel-Rahman says. 

Meet Saleem, an automated chatbot that promotes brain health and mental well-being over Facebook Messenger. Developed by Asmaa Saeed, a public health master’s student in AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology, the Arabic-speaking bot seeks to teach Arab individuals ways to improve their brain health in a conversational manner, such as giving advice on maintaining healthy eating habits or referring individuals to mental health websites and resources.

“The chatbot teaches individuals about various lifestyle factors associated with long-term brain health and mental function,” Saeed explains. “It gives the users tailored, personalized tips and recommendations for proactive steps and behaviors to support brain health.” 

Saeed, who is also a research assistant at AUC, received an award from the International Brain Research Organization/Dana Brain Awareness fund for improving global engagement, outreach and brain awareness in an underrepresented region.

Saeed built Saleem because she is interested in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases. “While science is doing its best to develop treatments that can prevent or delay these diseases, it’s not there yet,” she states. “Until it is, we need to adopt healthy lifestyles and behaviors that eliminate certain risk factors, such as hypertension, obesity, depression, physical inactivity and smoking.”

Saeed hopes that Saleem’s interactions with users will inform and influence them to make healthier choices. “The main challenge with this project is that there is limited awareness about brain health in this region and people here are not always willing to change their lifestyle,” she says. 

To encourage better habits, Saeed made the chatbot as engaging as possible. “I named the chatbot Saleem, used human-like characteristics in the profile picture, developed empathic statements for the bot to use and enabled the program to utilize emojis, customized tips and referrals to helpful resources,” she says. “Developing Saleem was my favorite part of this project.”

Even Saleem’s name is an encouragement of brain health. “In Arabic, Saleem means healthy, and there is a famous Arabic wisdom that says, ‘The healthy brain resides in the healthy body,’” Saeed explains. “This perfectly matches with Saleem's goals literally and metaphorically.”

Saleem offers an array of solutions for its users. “For instance, we know that social connectedness impacts brain health,” Saeed states. “The chatbot gives users this advice: ‘Stay in touch! Rich social networks offer sources of support, ease stress, fight depression and stimulate the brain.’”

Saeed says her time at AUC was very important to the development of Saleem. “I created the idea of Saleem for my final project in my Global Health Communication Course. Professor Mohamed Salama helped me polish the idea and guided me throughout the steps of making the chatbot into its best version,” she recalls. 

Saeed’s project was also a finalist in the Global Health Change Makers pitch competition, hosted by the American University of Beirut. The competition promotes projects that relate to global health and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. “Saleem contributes to the goal of maintaining healthy lives and promoting well-being as societies age,” she explains. 

Saeed is optimistic about the future of her project and about public advocacy. “I believe that the impact of brain health advocacy and public awareness will one day improve health outcomes for both the individual and the community,” she concludes.