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ELITE Vol.1, Issue 30, April 2021 Happy

Ramadan
married. It was a struggle; I defended my master’s Thanaa Ismail. For instance, I remember when Dr
thesis while I was nine-months pregnant and Dr Amr Mona asked me to organize a gala dinner for
wouldn’t let me defend my doctoral dissertation until I FEPS graduates and we were determined,
had given birth to my second daughter. But I benefitted despite some objections, to hold it at an elegant
greatly from this period, particularly because I studied a hotel that would reflect the stature of FEPS. We
subject that wasn’t available at the time, which was began planning in April and had the date set for
health economics. June. By May, I had all the graduates in my office
and you can’t imagine the amount of funding that
Having earned my PhD, I started working in university; I we received from various companies and banks,
spent 13 years between the American University in most of which were run by FEPS alumni. I recall
Cairo (AUC) and Cairo University, during which it was a how Dr Thanaa, Dr Heba Sadek, Dr Hala El-Said
flourishing period for FEPS. When I returned to our and I were working together and decorating the
Faculty, Dr Salwa Soliman – may Allah’s mercy be hotel as if we were decorating our own daughters’
upon her – offered me the position of vice director of weddings. The alumni were very happy because
the Centre for Economic Studies and this is how I got it was the first time that an event like this had
into administrative work, aside from research. After Dr been held since the establishment of FEPS and
Salwa Shaarawy went out on pension, I was anxious to many notable figures attended, including Minister
find out who the new director was going to be, since the Youssef Mahmoud and Mahmoud Shehab,
director and his deputy have to get along. To my among others.
surprise, I received a call from Dr Salwa congratulating
me on taking charge of the Centre. I headed to Dr Ali I was then offered the position of university vice
El-Deen Hilal who told me that the Centre was president by Dr Ali Abdel Rahman, a position
“penniless” and that the assistant had had to resign which scared me as it was the first time that they
after receiving a better job offer. If that wasn’t enough, I were looking for a woman. I went to Dr Mona and
discovered that the computers were broken, leaving the she offered me a position to work in the
Centre without an archive, despite the many department headship where I spent a calm year
contributions of previous directors whose work risked and provided the department with a very good
being lost. This is why I had to visit those professors in grant.
their homes and I managed to collect and document the
necessary information that could be presented to I worked at the time with Dr Hossam Kamel, Vice
funding entities. This was one of the most beautiful President of the University for Graduate Studies.
periods of my life where the Centre organized many We met due to the grant that I provided and
conferences that were attended by several renowned because he had graduated from a German school
figures in thought and society. as well. When he was appointed as university
president, he asked me to be his deputy for
After this, I moved to Community Service at FEPS. I community service. It was a difficult period; I was
had been reluctant to accept this position when Dr the first woman to enter this masculine building.
Kamal El-Menoufy offered it to me; I was wondering Plus, it was a huge responsibility: 250, 000
what the vice deanship for Community Service actually students – around the same number of Qataris –
did and what my role there would be exactly. I would 22,000 staff and 12,000 professors. Since Dr
later gradually find myself moving away from the Centre Hossam was busy at that time, he asked me to
for Economic Studies towards Community Service as I organize the ceremony celebrating the
noticed that many companies and banks increasingly University’s centennial. I assembled the FEPS
wanted to set up simulation models and trainings for team and reached out to everyone I know could
students. Whenever I look back on this period full of help, which culminated in an elegant ceremony
fond memories, I can’t keep myself from tearing up as I where the buildings told their stories in sound and
recall the moments that I shared with beautiful light, and where Omar Khairat stepped into the
University for the first t
personalities such as Dr Mona El-Baradei and Dr ime to enchant us with his
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