Rami Abi Jomaa is the Director of Advancement Services at the American University of Beirut. He manages the operations of the fundraising and alumni relations efforts including donation management, database management, prospect research, stewardship and donor relations, information services, data privacy and GDPR and advancement compliance. Rami has 12 years of experience in higher education advancement and has successfully completed very complex projects related to gift management and building fundraising campaign infrastructure. Additionally, Rami has experience in annual giving, technology management, HR and the development of various business processes. He holds a BS in Business Management and Information Systems and a master’s degree in Sociology.

Gabriel Abiad is the Assistant Vice President for Strategic Communications at the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Lebanon. He is a seasoned communications professional with decades of experience in the corporate and public sectors, nationally and internationally. Gabriel served as strategic planner and then Associate General Manager at FP7 (part of McCann Worldgroup), one of Lebanon's leading advertising agencies, and as marketing director for McDonald's Lebanon. He has developed national campaigns for governments in Canada, working for communications agencies in Ottawa. He has taught marketing strategy at LAU. Gabriel holds a Graduate Diploma in Education from Concordia University, an MBA and a BS in Liberal Arts from LAU.

Dalia Abubakr is the Senior Director of Digital Communications at the American University in Cairo (AUC). She has more than 25 years of experience in web communications, with a focus on web writing, information architecture, analytics, optimization and digital accessibility. Her experience also includes strategic planning for content marketing. She is an inclusion advocate and a member in the advisory board of Helm Egypt organization for empowering people with disability. She is certified in digital accessibility by the World Wide Web Consortium – W3C and in web analytics for higher education by the Higher Education Experts organization.
Dalia earned her bachelor's degree in English language with high honors. She is also a holder of graduate diploma in Arabic Studies with a specialization in Islamic Studies from The American University in Cairo. She won the Stellar Speaker award at the Conference for Advancement and Support of Education- MEAC- 2018.

Michael Andreasen is the University’s senior development officer and oversees the Office of University Development staff, which works closely with campus fundraising offices and affiliated foundations that support schools, the College of Arts and Sciences and other units. Andreasen also is chief executive of the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation Inc., a nonprofit corporation that receives gifts on behalf of the University, its schools and units.

Prior to joining Carolina in 2023, Andreasen served as senior vice president for university advancement at the University of Oregon, overseeing all aspects of advancement including development; state, community and federal affairs; advancement operations; stewardship and public events and alumni relations. During his tenure, he consistently increased annual fundraising totals and secured some of the largest donations to any public flagship university.

Andreasen began his time at UO as the vice president for development, leading efforts to establish campaign priorities, setting a working goal of $1.2 billion and developing a communications plan for the public launch in collaboration with the president, executive leadership and deans. Over 12 years, he served as a member of the University of Oregon Foundation Board, the Alumni Association Board, the Portland Business Alliance Board and the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to joining UO, Andreasen was at the University of Michigan for seven years — first as executive director and assistant dean for advancement for development and alumni relations, then as executive director and assistant dean for advancement at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. His 32+ years of fundraising experience include roles in major gifts and campaign leadership at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the American Film Institute. He began his career as the director of the annual fund for the University of California, Irvine, where he also earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

Dr. Imad B. Baalbaki is Vice President for Advancement and Business Development at American University of Beirut (AUB). Dr. Baalbaki works closely with AUB’s trustees, president, and senior leadership in support of AUB's academic and healthcare mission. He played a key role in AUB's Campaign for Excellence (2002-2007), and is currently leading BOLDLY AUB: The Campaign to Lead, Innovate, and Serve – a $650 million fundraising campaign. Dr. Baalbaki earned his bachelor’s degree in arts and master’s degree in business administration from AUB, and doctoral degree in marketing from Georgia Institute of Technology. A faculty member at AUB's Suliman S. Olayan School of Business since 1993, he is also the author of numerous publications in marketing and co-author of two leading English-language marketing textbooks for the Arab world.

Syed Bashir is an experienced Advancement and Fundraising professional with over 16 years of experience. His expertise includes setting up Advancement Services and implementing best practices in Database Management, Prospect Research and Gift Processing. Syed’s portfolio includes working through two successful Capital Campaigns, Database Migration and the implementation of a Data Governance Committee at the University of Central Florida - the largest public university in the US.

Having lived in various countries, Syed has a strong understanding of the cultural and social perspectives of the philanthropic practices both in the Middle East and the US. Since 2013, Syed has been part of the University Development team at the prestigious King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where he has headed multiple roles ranging from Fundraising to Advancement Operations.

Gregory Carroll has worked in University Advancement in the United States for 40 years. He has held leadership roles at small private institutions, regional publics, and major doctoral degree granting universities. Greg has been a member of CASE and served on district and international commissions. He has been a speaker for professional organisations including CASE, NACUBO, and the AMA. For the past three years, he has been a senior consultant with Stamats and during that time, worked with more than ten institutions, including Lebanese American University and top privates and publics from New York and Boston to California.

Rehab Saad El Domiati is the Senior Director of Media Relations and University spokesperson at The American University in Cairo (AUC).  Rehab is a seasoned media and PR professional with more than 30-year experience in the field. Since joining AUC in 2008, Rehab is responsible for overseeing AUC’s media relations activities in Egypt and the world. She also represents the University in the media, manages media crises, and provides communication guidance to the senior administration in any crisis.

Rehab attended several international conferences, including CASE Annual Conference for Media Relations Professionals in 2009 and 2016 and “Crisis Communication PR Programme,” by the International School of Communication in the UK in 2019.

Meredith joined the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in May 2017 where she leads their Foundation, responsible for philanthropic and membership support. She was previously the Director of Development and Alumni Relations at London Business School where she was part of the leadership team raising £125M for the school’s first-ever comprehensive campaign. Prior to joining LBS, Meredith led her alma mater’s successful $160M fundraising campaign, having moved to Virginia from Boston where she was a Director at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and Kennedy School of Government prior to that. Meredith has extensive experience of major gifts, alumni relations, international fundraising, and institutional support. She holds dual American and British citizenship and has her BA and MBA from the US.

Alex has 15 years of senior fundraising operations experience a further 10 years working with education and non-profit organisations in the UK and US. Alex is an expert in campaign planning, process design, organisational design and team management, information management and reporting.

Alex's expertise and practical approach to problem solving were honed during ten years at the University of Edinburgh and five years at the University of Manchester, where he delivered programmes of significant change to modernise and streamline Development Services. Alex also worked for the University of Sussex as Assistant Registrar for IT Development and the University of California at Santa Barbara as IT Course Program Manager.

Since 2018 Alex has worked as a consultant providing fundraising operations help to a range of clients including the University of Oxford, University of Glasgow, Nottingham Trent University, University College School, the Royal Academy of Music and the National Museums of Scotland amongst many others.

Walid A. Katergi joined the Office of Development at the American University of Beirut in 2003. He currently serves as Associate Vice President for Development. He earned his CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) in December 2012 - the first to obtain such a certification in the Arab World.

Walid fundraises for all faculties of the American University of Beirut (www.aub.edu.lb), a 151 year old prestigious American institution of higher learning in Beirut, Lebanon that includes a 300-bed quaternary care Medical Center. In addition, he manages a team of fundraisers based in Lebanon, and works closely with the team in New York that fundraises in the Americas.

May Makhzoumi is president of the Makhzoumi Foundation as well as a board director of several Future Group companies. She sits on the Advisory Board of FPI, Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American University (LAU), Board of Trustees of Al Makassed Al Islamiyah of Beirut, Advisory Boards of the AMIDEAST, the Institute of Family and Entrepreneurial Business, and the Olayan Business School at the American University of Beirut (AUB). She is a member of AUB’s President Club and sits on Advisory Board of the Nutrition School at LAU, amongst others. May is also member of the Jury of the UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development and a member of the National Commission of Lebanese Women. May has been with the UNGC Lebanese Network Council Leader for Goal 5 (Gender Equality) in the last 2 years.

She has received many honorary recognitions from different organisations and institutes, in appreciation of the Foundation’s efforts.

Aliaa Nader has been part of the advancement team at The American University in Cairo (AUC) since 1996 and is a seasoned professional with more than 23 years of experience in the areas of advancement services, fundraising, gifts processing, donor stewardship, research, and prospect management. She is a recipient of the Centennial Excellence Outstanding Award. Aliaa leads the operations of advancement services and sets the strategy for its various functions.

Nader’s expertise in fundraising utilises her financial background for non-profit educational organisations. She is proficient in interpreting Internal Revenue Service regulations and CASE guidelines.

Nader was a member of the search, conversion, and implementation committee on migrating to Salesforce Customer relationship management. During AUC’s Centennial Campaign, she was responsible for all the financial, analytical, and progress reporting of the campaign, building gifts pyramids, and preparing prospect data for decision-making.

Marilyn Osweiler is a senior vice president at Stamats, a leading U.S. higher education marketing and communications company. In her 25+ years at Stamats, she has worked with a broad range of institutions to develop strategic, research-driven solutions. She spends hours on campuses, working directly with Presidents and senior leadership, as well as staff and students. Marilyn has been involved with CASE, NACAC, AMA, and the Council of Independent Colleges. Her clients include Harvard Medical School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Lebanese American University (Beirut), UCLA, Tufts, New York Institute of Technology, Suffolk University, Hawaii Pacific University, among others. Stamats excels at strategic planning; research; marketing and communications assessment; brand development and creative execution; websites; digital marketing; and publications.

Salma Dannawi Oueida is associate vice president for development, alumni relations, and university events at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and an AUB alumna with both an Executive MBA and a bachelor of electrical and communication engineering.

She began her career at AUB in 2003 as associate director of development. Since then, she has been steadily promoted and taken on additional responsibilities. She was appointed senior director of development in 2015; associate vice president for development and alumni relations in 2016; and, most recently, associate vice president for development, alumni relations, and university events in 2022. She has extensive experience in organizational management, fundraising, business development, alumni relations, and event planning and a proven track record at establishing and building relationships with high-net-worth individuals, corporations and foundations, alumni, and volunteer groups.

During her career, Ms. Oueida has set records in fundraising and alumni engagement and launched new fundraising and alumni engagement programs and initiatives for AUB’s seven faculties and the AUB Medical Center (AUBMC). She manages the university’s relationship with its alumni community outside North America and works closely with some of AUB’s most successful volunteer groups to develop valuable and mutually rewarding partnerships. Oueida played an instrumental role in both AUB’s Campaign for Excellence (2002-07) and in AUB’s current $650 million fundraising campaign: BOLDLY AUB: The Campaign to Lead, Innovate, and Serve.

Oueida has consulted about establishing offices of development and alumni relations with many educational institutions in the Gulf and MENA region including Ahfad University in Sudan and Mohammed Al-Mana College for Medical Sciences in Saudi Arabia.

She is a two-time member of the Planning Committee for the CASE Advancement Committee in Middle East that took place in Dubai in February 2020 and the upcoming conference in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. Oueida is on the board of several NGOs including “Nusaned” and is a member of “the Lebanese League for Women in Business”. She is also a member of the 2023 Takreem Selection Board and a member of the Lebanese Order of Engineers and Architects.

In 2010, Ms. Oueida received the President’s Service Excellence Award, a prestigious distinction which is given to a select number of AUB staff members each year “who have shown continuous outstanding performance over a long period of time and have gone beyond the call of duty in helping students, patients, and fellow employees.”

John D. Pine is the Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving at NYU Abu Dhabi, where he works to engage the unique and talented population of NYUAD alumni all over the world. Prior to joining the team at NYUAD, he served as the Director of Outreach & Alumni Programs for NYU (New York), managed Alumni Relations for the Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta, GA and at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. John is a native Bostonian who received his Bachelor of Arts from Bridgewater State College (University) and his Master of Education from the University of Georgia.

Professor Mohamed-Vall Mohamed Salem Zein was appointed January 2015 as President of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) and has focused since then on driving initiatives to strengthen the position of UOWD as a leading academic institution in the UAE and the region. Mohamed Salem joined UOWD in 2004 and made since then important contributions to the University in a wide range of responsibilities first as member of the academic staff and later as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences. He worked previously as a software engineer for several years in both public and private sectors in Mauritania and Canada and collaborated in research with industry in the UAE and Canada.

Professor Salem received his PhD from the University of Montreal in 2002 and is a recipient of IBM Center for Advanced Studies PhD fellowship and the "Bourse d'excellence de la Francophonie" from the Canadian International Development Agency.

Arpana drives the implementation of strategies across a range of platforms to deepen alumni engagement with the University, as well as their connection with fellow alumni and current students. Arpana is enthusiastic about reinforcing and fostering lifelong connections with the graduates. She has been with Higher Education since 2003. Her previous experience spans other industries including Management Consultancy, Hospitality and Health. She is a fellow member of the Institute of Consulting, UK. She holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Wollongong Australia and a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nutrition from Delhi University.

Mariët Westermann, former executive vice president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, joined NYU Abu Dhabi as Vice Chancellor and Professor in August 2019. 

During her nine years at Mellon, Westermann oversaw the Foundation's annual grantmaking and research portfolio of more than $300 million. She re-envisioned the Foundation's strategy, launching initiatives that promote higher education, the humanities and the arts, strengthen liberal arts curricula and graduate education, reinforce community colleges, renew preservation of cultural heritage, and support scholars and artists at risk. From 2002 to 2010 she was at NYU, first as director of the Institute of Fine Arts in New York and then as the first provost of NYU Abu Dhabi, creating a startup team to set up the campus and recruit faculty and students. A widely published art historian, she began her professorial career at Rutgers University.

Mariët received her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Williams College, and earned her Masters and PhD at NYU's Institute of Fine Arts.