A graduate of Georgetown University has reached Egypt to conduct research with the Faculties of Medicine at Ain Shams University and Cairo University.  She is Ms. Christina Hanna.  While in Egypt she will conduct a study:  “Engaging Egyptian Working Boys in Tobacco Addiction Awareness Activities.”  Ms. Hanna holds a B.S. degree in international health biology from Georgetown and is in Cairo under the auspices of the Commission’s U.S. Student Program.  The Commission extends a warm welcome to her!

A student from Ain Shams University has begun master’s degree studies in neuroscience at the State University of New York - Buffalo.  He is He is Mr. Islam Nabil Badr.  Mr. Islam earned a B.A. degree from Ain Shams in 2005, majoring in pharmaceutical science.  He is in the United States under the auspices of the Commission’s Master’s Degree Program.

A student from Modern Academy at Maadi has begun master’s degree studies at American University.  He is Mr. Amr Aly Elgandy.  Mr. Elgandy earned a B.A. degree from Modern Academy in 2002, majoring in computer science.  While at American University he will be working in the field of conflict resolution.  Mr. Elgandy is in the United States under the auspices of the Commission’s Master’s Degree Program.  The Commission wishes him the best of luck in his studies.

In late July the Commission conducted a pre-departure orientation for Egyptian graduate students selected to participate in AY2008-2009 exchanges.  The orientation included a presentation on “American Education, Culture and Society,” as well as information on U.S. visas and grant details.  American Fulbright student Matthew Axelrod (Cairo University 2007-2008), and Fulbright alumni Yasmine Moataz (CUNY 2005-2006) and Hazem Shebl (San Jose State University 2006-2007) shared their experiences with the new students.  On day two U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey welcomed 24 students and 12 scholars to the Embassy.  In her remarks the Ambassador noted:  “I think your American colleagues will reach out to you….  You have so much to teach them.  You come from a country of enormous antiquity and cultural depth, from the heart of the Middle East, the top of the continent of Africa, on the shores of the Mediterranean....  Egypt really has it all, and people will be fascinated by what you have to tell them."  Ambassador Scobey encouraged the Fulbrighters "share ... stories of your life, your families, and where you come from."  The Egyptian Student Program provides opportunities for recent university graduates, master’s and doctoral degree candidates, and young professionals and artists to study in the United States.  Nearly 30 students will participate in the program in 2008-2009.

Dr. Rob Haley, an assistant professor at the University of North Florida and Director of Research for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, is visiting Tanta University under the auspices of the Commission's Fulbright Specialist Program.  While at Tanta University, Dr. Haley will conduct a three-week health-care seminar, “Health Care Systems, Leadership and Health Care Research:  a Global Perspective.”  The Fulbright Specialist Program provides short-term opportunities for Egyptian institutions and American scholars to increase collaboration between the United States and Egypt.  Each year nearly a dozen American academics visit Egyptian institutions as Fulbright Specialists.

On July 9-11 twenty-three U.S. Fulbright scholars and students who will be in Egypt in AY2008-2009 attended a pre-departure orientation in Washington, DC.  Presentations by the Executive Director, Dr. Bruce A. Lohof, and U.S. Team members Ms. Noha El Gindi and Ms. Laila Hussein covered academic, cultural, social and administrative elements of a Fulbright year in Egypt.  Alumni Susan Kollin (AUC 2007-2008), Alice Mandell (CASA 2006-2007) and Shaimaa Mohamed (Georgetown University 2007-2008) shared their Fulbright experiences with the new Fulbrighters.  "Thank you very much for your time and effort in making our ... visit to Egypt as smooth as possible," said one grantee.  "Your commitment to providing the most courteous, prompt, and professional help ... is highly commendable and very much appreciated."

In June 11-24 sixteen students from the University of Houston - Clear Lake participated in a study tour of Egypt conducted by Fulbright alumnus Dr. Everett B. Penn (Cairo University 2004-2005), Assistant Professor of Criminology and Affiliate Faculty of Cross Cultural Studies, School of Human Sciences and Humanities.  Among the highlights of the tour were two educational and cultural dialogues organized by the Commission and convened at the Villa.  Commission alumni, together with their Egyptian students, participated in the dialogues.  The sessions concluded with performance of Arabic music and an Egyptian dinner at the Villa, where the Egyptian and American participants shared their views of culture, music and food.  Through events like these, the Commission and its alumni help each other to pursue mutual understanding through mutual educational exchange.

A U.S. Fulbright Student has reached Egypt to begin research at the Higher Institute for Theatre Studies, Academy of Arts.  He is Mr. George Potter.  Mr. Potter graduated from Indiana State University in 2002 and earned an M.A. degree from Indiana State in 2005.  While at the Institute Mr. Potter will study “Staging the Present:  Politics in Contemporary Egyptian Drama.”  Prior to pursuing his research Mr. Potter is studying Arabic at the International Language Institute under the auspices of the Commission’s Critical Language Enhancement Award (CLEA) Program.  The Commission extends a warm welcome to him.

On June 11 the Commission’s Executive Director, Dr. Bruce A. Lohof, visited the Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute in Helwan.  His hosts at the Institute were Vice President Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim and Fulbright alumnus Dr. Abdel Salam Hamdy Makhlouf (Boise State University 2006-2007).  While in Helwan, Dr. Lohof explained the Commission and its exchange programs to nearly thirty members of the Institute staff.  Through visits like this, the Commission is able to reach wider and deeper into Egypt’s academic and research communities.

On June 7-10 the Commission conducted a pre-departure orientation for 185 candidates selected for participation in the AY 2008-2009 Community College Initiative (CCI) Program.  The orientation covered academic, cultural, and social elements of the participants’ anticipated experience in the United States.  Mr. John Groarke, Deputy Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cairo, greeted the participants on behalf of the U.S. Embassy.  Other partners in CCI were represented by Mr. Stephen Hanchey (AMIDEAST); and Dr. Karene Grad and Ms. Michelle Johnson (U.S. Department of State).  The CCI Program offers practical education to Egyptians in technical fields at U.S. Community Colleges to enhance and develop their professional skills while providing an opportunity to better  understand American culture and society.

U.S. Fulbright Scholar Dr. Jacinto F. Fabiosa was featured speaker at a regional workshop on “Expansion in Biofuel and Soaring Food Prices:  Implications for Agricultural and Food Policies in the Near East and North Africa.”  The workshop, convened on June 2-4 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, was sponsored by the Near East and North Africa Regional Network for Agricultural Policies (NENARNAP) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  More than thirty agricultural policy country   representatives, together with representatives from FAO and the World Bank, heard Dr. Fabiosa identify the main drivers of the development of the biofuels sector in the United States and their impact on global agricultural markets.  Fabiosa is co-director of the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), a recognized center of policy analysis based at Iowa State University.  He is currently conducting research at Cairo University on emerging food consumption patterns in Egypt and its implication for trade.

Dr. Naghmeh Sohrabi, Assistant Director for Research at Brandeis University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies, has begun her tenure as a Fellow in the Center for Arabic Study Abroad CASA III program.  The program, which is supported by the Commission and hosted by the American University in Cairo, offers advanced Arabic language study to post-doctoral American scholars.  Dr. Sohrabi was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S. 1994) and Harvard University (M.A. 1996), and earned a Ph.D. degree in history and Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard in 2007.  In addition to Arabic, Dr. Sohrabi speaks Persian and Turkish.  A warm welcome to Dr. Sohrabi.

Dr. Safwat Shakir, Director of Texas Gulf Coast Environmental Data Center (TEXGED) at Prairie View A&M University has visited Ain Shams University.  While at Ain Shams Dr. Shakir conducted a two-week workshop on biometrics studies and biostatistics.  Faculty members and graduate students from universities throughout Egypt participated in the workshop.  Dr. Shakir visited Egypt under the auspices of the Commission’s Fulbright Specialist Program, which provides short-term opportunities for Egyptian institutions and American scholars to increase collaboration between the United States and Egypt.  Each year nearly a dozen American academics visit Egyptian institutions as Fulbright Specialists.

On June 1 the staff of the Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt honored Bruce A. Lohof for his contribution to the Fulbright Program in Egypt since assuming the position of Executive Director in September 2005.  Under his wise stewardship, the Commission has continued to pursue mutual educational exchange “one grantee at a time,” as he often says, “so that each ‘Fulbrighter’ remembers his/her year(s) in Egypt – or in America – as a positive, life altering experience.”  Dr. Lohof received a certificate, signed by all staff members, recognizing him for his outstanding leadership of the Commission, and for his “fairness, ethics and genuine humanity.”  Thank you, Bruce, for being an exceptional boss and a wonderful role model!

On May 22 the Commission’s Science Circle collaborated with the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association to convene a seminar on “Education Reform Efforts and Egyptian Business Needs.”  More than sixty alumni and other attendees participated in the seminar, which was inaugurated by Alumnus Dr. Adel I. Gazarin (MIT 1953), Chairman of the Businessmen’s Association, and the Commission’s Executive Director Dr. Bruce A. Lohof.  Other alumni presenters included Dr. Hany Hamroush (University of Virginia 1990-1991), a scientific affairs specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and Dr. Mohsen Elmahdy Said (Boston College 2005-2006), Executive Director and Chairman of the Board, Projects Management Unit, Ministry of Higher Education.  Through formal sessions and informal discussions, the seminar showcased alumni contributions to educational reform in Egypt.

On May 5 the Commission’s American Studies Circle gathered to hear Fulbrighter Kenneth Cooper and Mohamed El-Menshawy, Editor-in-Chief, Taqrir Washington, speak on the “American and Egyptian Press:  Strengths and Weaknesses.”  Mr. Cooper, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist from Boston, is conducting research on “How brightly does the Daily Star Shine?” under the auspices of the Commission’s American Scholar Program.  Mr. Mohamed appears frequently on CNN and MSNBC, and has been the Washington correspondent Asharq Alawsat.  The Circle, whose May meeting was organized by Fulbright alumna Ms. Sonia Farid (University of California - Santa Cruz 2006-2007) of Cairo University, continues to serve as a forum for exchange among the Commission’s American studies alumni and contacts.

A Ph.D. candidate at University of California - Santa Barbara is conducting research at Cairo University.  She is Ms. Patricia Kubala.  Ms. Kubala earned a B.A. degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Environmental Studies at Columbia University in 2000 and an M.A. in Religious Studies from Santa Barbara in 2006.  While affiliated with Dr. Hassan Emad Mekawy of Cairo University’s Faculty of Mass Communication, Ms. Kubala will study "Islamic Mass Media Culture in Egypt." The Commission extends a warm welcome to her!

On April 16 an American Fulbright scholar, Jacinto F. Fabiosa, spoke at a conference on an “Integrated Rural Information System in Egypt” sponsored by the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (ISDSC).  Dr. Fabiosa’s talk focused on the “The Synergistic Role of Public and Private Institutions in the Generation and Dissemination of Information for Rural Development in the U.S.”  He encouraged his audience to consider the demand side of information end-users as they begin to design an integrated rural information system in Egypt.  More than fifty representatives of government offices, research institutes, and universities in Egypt attended the conference.  Dr. Fabiosa, a scientist from Iowa State University, is conducting research at Cairo University on “Egypt’s Emerging Food Consumption Pattern.”  Educated at University of the Philippines (B.A. 1978), Michigan State University (M.Sc. 1983), and Iowa State University (Ph.D. 1994), Dr. Fabiosa is a specialist in agricultural economics, international trade, consumption analysis, and production economics.

An alumnus of the Commission’s Egyptian Scholar Program, Dr. Abdel Salam Hamd