CAIRO: The American University in Cairo (AUC) has announced the appointment of three new members to its Board of Trustees: Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, business and philanthropic leader Hosna Rachid, and Professor David A. Terrill. Al Otaiba, currently serves as the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States; Rachid is the chairperson of the Rachid Mashreq Group and president of Mohamed Rachid Foundation for Cultural and Social Development; and Terrill is the Ross McCollum-William H. Corcoran Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Prior to his current position, Al Otaiba served as the director of international affairs for the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. During that time, he was a senior counselor to HH General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Al Otaiba has helped guide Abu Dhabi's leadership in multinational discussions on best practices for sovereign wealth funds, and to promote and deepen trade relationships between the UAE and other government, commercial, and private sector entities. For several years, he has facilitated meetings between the UAE and other foreign economic interests, which have resulted in numerous mutually beneficial cooperative and partnership agreements. Al Otaiba obtained a degree in international relations from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, after graduating from Cairo American College. He also attended the Industrial College of the US Armed Forces at the National Defense University in Washington, DC as an International Fellow. As chairperson of Rachid Mashreq Group, Rachid oversees the largest manufacturing group in the Middle East region. The group includes Unilever Mashreq, Dreem S.A.E, Mashreq des Produits Laitiers, and Mashreq for Commercial Investment. She also serves as a board member of various organizations, including the Integrated Care Society, the National Council of Women and the Magdy Yacoub Foundation. She is a member of the High Advisory Board to the Ministry of Family and Population and to the Secretariat for International Relations at the National Democratic Party. She is also the president of numerous civil and commercial chambers, including the French Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria, Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations Alexandria (CEEBA), and also a Member of the World Economic Forum and the Arab International Women's Forum. Rachid is a graduate of Alexandria University and the Deutsche Schule der Borromäerinnen in Alexandria. Tirrell's contributions to macromolecular chemistry have been recognized by his election to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been awarded the Arthur C. Cope Scholar, Carl Marvel, Harrison Howe, S. C. Lind and Madison Marshall Awards of the American Chemical Society, as well as the ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry. He holds the Chancellor's Medal of the University of Massachusetts, the G. N. Lewis Medal of the University of California Berkeley, and the degree of Doctor honoris causa from the Technical University of Eindhoven. From 1999 to 2009, he was chairman of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech. Prior to joining Caltech, Tirrell served as an assistant professorship in the Department of Chemistry at Carnegie-Mellon University and director of the Materials Research Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts.Terrill earned his B.S. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his PhD from the University of Massachusetts. B. Boyd Hight, chairman of AUC's Board of Trustees, said that the new members will provide the board with expertise and counsel in the key areas of academia, government, business and philanthropy. “Each of these individuals has the experience and expertise we seek in identifying members of the Board of Trustees. Ambassador Al Otaiba is widely recognized internationally in diplomatic and business areas and, due to a family connection, is personally familiar with Egypt. Ms. Rachid is also a well-known individual in Egypt and highly regarded for her business and philanthropic expertise. Professor Tirrell, a colleague of AUC board member, Ahmed Zewail, will compliment Professor Zewail's contributions in further developing AUC's science programs,” Hight said. “I am pleased that AUC is positioned to attract individuals who are among the most prominent in their fields, and who have the ability – and willingness – to make a significant contribution to the future success of this university.” Distinguished for their professional accomplishments in the areas of business, law, education, philanthropy and scholarship, members of AUC's Board of Trustees are all volunteers who dedicate their time and resources to supporting the university. Primarily Egyptians, Saudi Arabians and Americans, the trustees do not receive a salary and provide their own financial support to the university. AUC's trustees include Moataz Al-Alfi, chairman of the Americana Group; Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel Prize winner and former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Mohamed Ibrahim, founder and chairman of Celtel International; Dina Habib Powell, managing director and global head of corporate engagement at Goldman Sachs; Dr. Ahmed Zewail, also a Nobel Prize winner and the Linus Pauling Chair Professor of Chemistry, professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the director of the Physical Biology Center; and Daniel C. Kurtzer, former U.S. ambassador to Egypt. BM
