(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The American University of Beirut (AUB) received an $8 million endowment from the Kamel Abdel Rahman Endowed Scholarship Fund to support Palestinian students on Tuesday. AUB says this is the largest single endowment for scholarships in the history of the university.
The fund, which is named after a Palestinian AUB graduate and businessman, will support tuition scholarships for Palestinians from refugee camps, according to the university.
“This very generous gift will give opportunities to countless future students who, in turn, will make their contributions to their societies and the world,” AUB President Peter Dorman said.
Rahman was born in Haifa, Palestine, in 1907 and studied business administration at AUB. Upon graduating in 1931, he returned to Palestine and founded the Contracting and Trading Company (CAT) before he was forced to come back to Lebanon during the Nakba in 1948.
The company, which is headquartered in Athens, currently has 110,000 employees according to its official website. In 2013, the company’s revenue was more than 2.2 billion.
After selling his shares in the company and retiring from in 1976, Rahman established an education fund to support Palestinian students. After his death in 1980, the fund trustees decided to allow AUB to manage the fund.
“AUB had such a profound impact on the life of Kamel Abdel Rahman and on our own lives,” said trustee Isam Nubani. “We know that AUB will ensure that this fund will benefit deserving Palestinian students for generations to come.”
“Financial aid is one of AUB’s highest priorities, and scholarships support academically qualified students who would otherwise not be able to attend university,” AUB provost Ahmad Dallal said in a statement. “This extraordinary endowment from Mr. Abdel Rahman will impact so many students, their families and communities.”
Approximately 40 percent of the undergraduate student body receives some kind of financial aid to afford annual tuition, which AUB says has increased in recent years.