The American University of Beirut’s Center for Community Engagement (AUB-CCE) has been named a winner of the 2026 MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship for its Frontliner Model, an achievement announced by the Talloires Network of Engaged Universities in the seventeenth edition of the prize.
The Frontliner Model was selected from nominations submitted by Talloires Network member universities worldwide. The international selection committee also named Project Luminary of Parami University (Myanmar) and En Libertad de Educación (ELEDUC) of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile) among this year’s winners.
The Frontliner Model serves as CCE’s overarching framework, designed to help higher education institutions integrate theoretical, classroom-based knowledge with practical skills and an ethical orientation to address pressing challenges in crisis-ridden contexts. Developed by CCE’s Executive Director Rabih Shibli and a team of ten staff members, the model comprises three cross-cutting components: the Engaged Scholars Program (ESP), which engages scholarship students in leadership and skills development; Fundamentals in Community Engagement (FCE), a three-credit Community Engaged Learning course within AUB’s general education curriculum; and Strategic Community Initiatives (SCI), which pilots multi-year flagship projects for vulnerable communities.
The model traces its origins to the aftermath of the 2006 July War, when a wave of volunteer relief efforts among students, faculty, and staff led to a university-wide Task Force for Reconstruction. The CCE was formally established in 2008. Its work expanded following the 2013 blizzard Alexa — which marked the beginning of CCE’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis — and consolidated after the Beirut Port explosion of August 4, 2020, when CCE mobilized more than 1,000 volunteers for debris removal, home repairs, rapid assessments, and psychosocial support.
Over the past decade, the model’s Strategic Community Initiatives have reached approximately 40,000 direct beneficiaries through multi-year interventions in education, livelihoods, and mental health, including Ghata: Bringing Education to Informal Tented Settlements and the STEP tertiary education program. Through the Engaged Scholars Program, 4,871 students completed 16,029 volunteering rotations totaling 144,942 hours, while 564 students interned with community-based organizations, and students designed or implemented 195 Community Engagement Projects across Lebanon, Sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, and the MENA region. The Fundamentals in Community Engagement course enrolled more than 800 students in its 2025 inaugural year, with a 99 percent completion rate.
“At the core of our community engagement is the AUB’s commitment to bridge the gap between promise and practice and to advance its mission of public purpose. Receiving this recognition in 2026, and being honored again a decade later, is a testament to the university’s sustained commitment to institutionalizing community engagement, expanding its reach, and deepening its impact,” commented Rabih Shibli, executive director of the Center for Community Engagement.
The MacJannet Prize is awarded annually by the Talloires Network, a global coalition of engaged universities. The 2026 selection also named three honorable mentions: the Imagine Fellows Program at HEC Paris (France), the Gender and Sexual Health Project at Sabanci University (Türkiye), and the Student Civic Initiative at Strathmore University (Kenya).
About AUB
Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts model of higher education. A teaching-centered research university, AUB has more than 790 full-time faculty members and a student body of over 9000 students. AUB currently offers more than 140 programs leading to bachelor’s, master’s, MD, and PhD degrees. It provides medical education and training to students from throughout the region at its Medical Center that includes a full-service 365-bed hospital.
Stay up to date on AUB news and events.
aub.edu.lb |Facebook |X