CAIRO: The American University in Cairo (AUC) announced Sunday the appointment of Dr Ziad Ahmed Bahaa-Eldin as a member of its Board of Trustees, the university said in a statement. Bahaa-Eldin, the former chairman of the Egyptian General Authority for Investment and Free Zone (GAFI), is a legal advisor and member of the board of directors of the Central Bank of Egypt, the Capital Market Authority and the National Bank of Egypt. He also serves as chairman of the Upper Egypt Investment Company. The chairman of AUC's Board of Trustees, B. Boyd Hight, said that Bahaa-Eldin provides unique insight in providing advice and counsel to the board. "In addition to having a distinguished legal career in Egypt, Hight said, "Zaid is also a graduate of AUC and understands the challenges and opportunities facing the university in a very personal way. "As the university relocates to New Cairo, it will become increasingly important that the board be aware of the aspirations and goals the university's alumni have for AUC's future. I am confident Dr Ziad will play a key role in ensuring that AUC is responsive to the needs of its alumni. From 2004 to 2007, Zaid served as chairman of GAFI, a government organization responsible for the promotion of investment, free zones management, and business climate policy advocacy. He is currently its non-executive Chairman of the Board of Trustees. From 2000 to 2004, he was a practicing lawyer and from 1997 to 2000, he was a senior legal advisor to the Minister of Economy. Bahaa-Eldin is also the founder and member of the board of directors of the Ahmed Bahaa-Eldin Cultural Foundation which promotes education, training, and creative thinking among Egyptian youth. He received a BA in economics from AUC as well as a bachelor of law from Cairo University and a master in international business (LLM) from King's College in London. He received his Ph.D. in banking law from the London School of Economics. Bahaa-Eldin has been a lecturer at Cairo University and at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology. 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, the University explained in its statement. 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 director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Mohamed Ibrahim, founder and chairman of Celtel International; and Dina Habib Powell, managing director and global head of corporate engagement at Goldman Sachs; and Dr. Ahmed Zewail (elected in 1999), 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.
