Salma Dannawi Oueida, associate vice president for development, alumni relations, and university events at the American University of Beirut (AUB), has been selected to receive the 2024 CASE Asia-Pacific Distinguished Service Award. Oueida received the award from Sue Cunningham, CASE president and CEO, during the 2024 CASE Asia-Pacific Advancement Conference (APAC) in Singapore on May 8, 2024. Established in 1974, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) is the global nonprofit association dedicated to educational advancement—alumni relations, communications, development, marketing, and advancement services—and championing education to transform lives and society. This prestigious award “recognises inspirational advancement professionals whose accomplishments have made a significant and lasting impact on institutional advancement, and whose life and character have earned the respect and admiration of fellow colleagues.”
“Inspiring leadership is key to the success of advancement operations. Exceptional leaders build strong relationships that help their institutions and communities thrive. Salma Oueida is such a leader—visionary, impactful, and dedicated to the American University of Beirut’s success,” says Cara Giacomini, interim executive director at CASE Asia-Pacific.
Commenting about Oueida’s selection for the CASE award, AUB President Fadlo Khuri said, “Salma has been very effective not just in obtaining gifts and support and leading events at the university, but in letting people understand what the American University [of Beirut] is all about because Salma Oueida carries the essence of the mission of the American University of Beirut in her soul. You can see it in her actions. You can see it in her indefatigable optimism. I am thrilled that CASE is honoring Salma with this award.” This is the second time that someone from AUB has been selected to receive the CASE Asia-Pacific Distinguished Service Award. Senior Vice President for Advancement and Business Development Imad Baalbaki received the same award in 2020. “For there to be two recipients of this award at AUB is “an honor for our entire Advancement team and a global recognition for AUB and the truly excellent and dedicated people who work here,” says Baalbaki.
A proud AUB alumna, Oueida (BE Electrical and Computer Engineering ’92, EMBA ’22) has been a member of AUB’s Advancement team since 2003. She has been steadily promoted as she has taken on additional responsibilities in fundraising, alumni relations, and event management. Oueida has worked especially closely with some of the leading volunteer groups at the university including the President’s Club, which was established to raise funds for projects that enhance student life at AUB; the Nature Conservation Center, the leading multidisciplinary academic center addressing nature conservation in the MENA region; Khaddit Beirut, which was launched following the August 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion to co-build local alternatives, best practices, and growth opportunities that ensure the well-being and dignity of the inhabitants of Lebanon; and the Zaki Nassif Program for Music, which has transformed the musical landscape in Lebanon and the region. “There is no doubt that Salma’s enthusiastic approach, her friendliness, and her intelligence combined with her engineering background and her instinctive know-how in dealing with people and financial matters were decisive in our fundraising efforts that were essential to sustain the Zaki Nassif Program Fund,” said Professor Nabil Nassif, director of the Zaki Nassif Program for Music.
Oueida has also been a key player in the success of AUB’s current fundraising campaign: BOLDLY AUB: The Campaign to Lead, Innovate, and Serve, for which the university has raised more than $777 million. The campaign will conclude on June 30, 2024. Former AUB trustee Leila Bissat, who also wrote in support of Oueida’s nomination commented, “The same skills that enabled Salma to be so successful in support of the Zaki Nassif Program for Music have benefited countless other initiatives at AUB as well. I was especially aware of this during my three years (2020-23) as a member of the AUB Board of Trustees when I had the opportunity to work closely with Salma on many occasions. Salma played a pivotal role in, for example, the university’s $650 million fundraising campaign, BOLDLY AUB: The Campaign to Lead, Innovate, and Serve; in guiding the most impactful volunteer groups at AUB; in the AUB4Women Campaign, which was launched on the occasion of AUB’s Coed Centennial; in the university’s response to the August 4, 2020, explosion in the Beirut port; in the university’s annual Giving Day; in fundraising and relief initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic; etc.”
In a letter he wrote supporting the nomination, Senior Vice President for Advancement and Business Development at AUB Imad B. Baalbaki wrote, “To me, Salma is a true partner. As a private not-for-profit academic and healthcare institution in our part of the world, we have had our disproportionate share of crises that subjected our university to so many challenges. But, we stood the test of time, with 157 years of community service under the most challenging of circumstances. We persisted. We made it because of dedicated, determined, talented people who were at the helm of this institution and who embodied the mission of AUB and its core values. Salma Dannawi Oueida is one of those few people.”
CASE Asia-Pacific Distinguished Service Award
The CASE Asia-Pacific Distinguished Service Award recognizes inspirational advancement professionals whose accomplishments have made a significant and lasting impact on institutional advancement, and whose life and character have earned the respect and admiration of fellow colleagues.
This award recognizes the following contributions from individuals: leadership in their profession, demonstration of best practice and innovation in their profession, and service to the CASE Asia-Pacific community of practice.
About CASE
CASE—the Council for Advancement and Support of Education—is a global, not-for-profit membership association with a vision to advance education to transform lives and society.
CASE is the home for advancement professionals, inspiring, challenging, and equipping them to act effectively and with integrity to champion the success of their institutions. CASE defines the competencies and standards for the profession of advancement, leading, and championing their dissemination and application with more than 97,000 advancement professionals at 3,100 member institutions in 80 countries.
Broad and growing communities of professionals gather under the global CASE umbrella. Currently these include alumni relations, development services, communications, fundraising, government relations, and marketing. These professionals are at all stages of their careers and may be working in universities, schools, colleges, cultural institutions, or other not-for-profits. CASE uses the intellectual capital and professional talents of a community of international volunteers to advance its work, and its membership includes many educational partners who work closely with the educational sector.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, CASE works across all continents from its regional offices in London, Singapore, and Mexico City to achieve a seamless experience for all its stakeholders, particularly its members, volunteers, and staff.
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 750 full-time faculty members and a student body of over 8000 students. AUB currently offers more than 120 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.
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