AUB appoints scholar and former minister Tarek Mitri as new Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs

• News
• October 20, 2014

Tarek Mitri has a distinguished record of public service, having served successive governments in Lebanon between 2005 and 2011 as Minister of Environment, Minister of Administrative Reform, Minister of Culture, Minister of Information, and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mitri also served as Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya from 2012 to 2014.
An unwavering advocate for intercultural and interreligious dialogue in his teaching, writing, and ecumenical service to the community, Mitri is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Palestine Studies, Chairman of the Board of the Nicolas Sursock Museum, a member of the Strategic Council of Université Saint Joseph (USJ), and a member of the Executive Board of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, Qatar.
Mitri has taught at USJ, Balamand University, University of Geneva, Amsterdam Free University, Harvard University, and at AUB.
A graduate of AUB and Université de Nanterre Paris X, Mitri has authored a number of books and articles on religion and politics, and interreligious and intercultural dialogue, in Arabic, English, and French.
Mitri brings to the Issam Fares Institute a unique expertise that traverses and integrates the academic, the political, and the cultural, and an understanding that is local, regional and global.
As the new director of the IFI, Mitri follows Rami Khouri who, as the founding director, established the IFI as the leading independent institute for scholarly interaction, knowledge creation, and policy development in the Middle East.
President Peter Dorman said, “We are so fortunate to have a man of Tarek Mitri’s stature and experience as the new director of the Issam Fares Institute. As a statesman and scholar, with wide understanding of the region and public policy, Mitri is ideally suited to lead the Issam Fares Institute. His leadership will further reinforce the IFI as a forum for leading research, debate and policy development on issues of central importance to the Arab region.”

Provost Ahmad Dallal said, “We warmly welcome Mitri’s as the new director of the Issam Fares Institute. With his appointment we reaffirm our commitment to the research, dialogue, and engagement that is essential to AUB’s mission in serving Lebanon and the region.”