The Daily Star, Lebanon
June 28 2004
American University of Beirut awards honorary degrees
By May Habib
Special to The Daily Star
When Vartan Gregorian arrived in Beirut from Tehran 54 years ago, he
had $50 in his pocket, couldn’t speak Arabic or English and did not
know a single person in the country.
On Saturday, Gregorian, the head of the Carnegie Corporation in the
US and an acclaimed philanthropist and educator, returned to receive
an honorary doctorate from the American University of Beirut.
Gregorian’s first English teacher in Beirut, Antoine Kehyaian, was
present at the ceremony to see his former pupil.
“As a student I used to tell Antoine, ‘Don’t worry, one day I will
get a degree from AUB,'” said Gregorian, who has received honorary
degrees from 15 universities. “I had to spend 50 years in the
wilderness in order to earn this.”
Along with Gregorian, the mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah, famed
cellist Yo-Yo Ma and journalist Peter Jennings also received honorary
degrees.
AUB President John Waterbury said this year’s recipients
“demonstrate, almost to perfection, the coupling of specialization
and achievement to lifelong involvement in other fields.”
Upon leaving Beirut, Gregorian – who also delivered the commencement
address Saturday – went to Stanford University in California, where
he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1958 and his doctorate in history
in 1964. After teaching at various universities in the US, he became
founding dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University
of Pennsylvania and eventually became the provost.
After leaving the University
of Pennsylvania, Gregorian headed the New York Public Library,
raising an unprecedented $400 million for its revival.
Never content to remain too long in any position, he left the New
York Public Library in 1989 to become president of Brown University.
He then left Brown for the philanthropic Carnegie Corporation in
1997.
Gregorian advised students at the ceremony to “get really rich” so
they can donate money to AUB in the future.
“There are not many AUBs in the world, especially this part of the
world,” he said. “You owe it to AUB and the Lebanese to keep this
beacon of learning and light shining.”
Sir Michael Atiyah, whose work in string theory has been awarded
numerous medals, also commended AUB for creating cultural links that
“straddle space and time.” Atiyah, the son of a Lebanese father and a
Scottish mother, grew up in Sudan and attended Victoria College in
Cairo. He was knighted in 1983 and was awarded the rank of commander
in the Order of the Cedars by the Lebanese government in 1993.
Atiyah helped AUB develop its Center for Advanced Mathematical
Studies and is the chairman of the center’s International Advisory
Committee.
Jennings, who came to Lebanon in 1972 as the ABC News bureau chief in
Beirut, said that AUB – founded by US missionaries – is “one of the
greatest things the US has done in the Middle East.” He said that at
a time when the US government is challenged by winning the hearts and
minds of the region’s people, “at AUB the great ideas of the US come
together.”
Waterbury joked that he would try to keep secret that the hugely
successful Jennings did not finish high school and does not have a
university degree.
“We forgive you Peter for your early dismissal of our product,”
Waterbury said.
Yo-Yo Ma, a concert cellist since the age of 9 and a 14-time Grammy
winner, closed the ceremony with a piece from Bach. “I know I was not
invited here for my speaking skills,” he joked, holding up his cello.