GAPP Celebrates 10 Years and Plans for Growth
By: Aya Aboshady
@ Aya_Abuchadiee
When former Egyptian Ambassador to the US Nabil Fahmy first founded the School of Global Affairs in 2009, it offered 16 degrees and majors for undergraduates and graduates at AUC.
One decade, one revolution and one name change later, the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) grew to a capacity of 28 degrees and majors.
“For me 10 years is a very long and short period at the same time. It’s a small number to evaluate an institution; but in today’s age, everything is changing so quickly,” said Fahmy, who also served as Egyptian former foreign minister and ambassador to Japan.
“For instance, year one is different than eight; meaning that we have to be continuously changing and evolving,” he added.
GAPP currently includes the Law, Journalism and Mass Communication, Public Policy and Administration Departments, and the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, the Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies, and the Middle East Studies Center.
GAPP’s mission is to prepare the school’s graduates through the interaction of international and public affairs, policy and the rule of law, ethics as well as the role of media, to engage society and be agents of change in their communities.
Fahmy explained that in only 10 years, GAPP has made a global and a regional name for itself. And that as much as this is considered an achievement, he’s not – by any standard – satisfied yet.
The school’s Dean is looking forward to more global interactions by using digital and online programs that teach students both here and abroad.
“The March 31st celebration event was attended by many local Egyptian and foreigners, as well as the International Advisory Board in addition to those who wouldn’t have come from abroad if GAPP wasn’t what it is now,” he said.
JRMC Professor of Practice Mervat Abo Ouf was at AUC when GAPP was first established.
“I had the honor to be there the very first day Dean Fahmy announced the GAPP School. We’ve been through a lot and I’m confident that we’re going to overcome any drawbacks along the way,” she said.
On March 31, GAPP hosted a dinner to commemorate its 10th anniversary and recognize distinguished alumni for their achievements since graduating from the school.
Georges Abi Saab honored
GAPP also presented its first Distinguished Public Service Award to Professor of International Law Georges Abi Saab.
Abi-Saab has also served as a consultant to the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General, been a member of the Egyptian delegation to the International Court of Justice, and is a member of the International Advisory Board.
“It was a very dense and enriching day. I was surprised when they told me about the award. I tried to think why they thought I deserve something like that. It’s true I did many things in my life, but most of all I was a teacher and an academic,” said Abi-Saab
Fahmy told The Caravan that the reason they decided to award Abi-Saab was his attitude, not his work.
He stressed that Abi-Saab, in everything he did, always had the public good in mind.
Abi-Saab added that, whether in the private or public sector, thinking and integrating the public interest for a better future is critical.
During the dinner, GAPP hosted a panel discussion with global experts including Egyptian Lawyer Ziad Bahaa El Din, American Journalist and Author David Ignatius, Kenyan Professor George Njenga, Indian Ambassador Shivshankar Menon, Singaporean Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani, and American International Lawyer and Author Anne-Marie Slaughter to discuss where the world was heading in this age of digital transformation.
“They all had different opinions, even if some were optimistic and others a bit less; they all still shared the fact that if we don’t work together, we’ll have a problem and that is really the message I was waiting for,” Fahmy told The Caravan.
Meanwhile, AUC President Francis Ricciardone congratulated the GAPP school.
“[There were] a lot of rich discussions on what it means to be engaged in addressing the problems of the world. It’s no longer a matter of teaching politics or political affairs or how the states work, as important as all of that is; today, everybody is in the conversation,” he said.
