The Most Prominent
Lebanese
Email us any Additional
Famous / Successful Lebanese Figure you might Know
There
are about 3 million Lebanese-Americans, and as a community, we've been
demonstrating our loyalty, inventiveness and courage on behalf of the United
States for over 100 years. Here are just a few of the more famous ones -- people
you may know!
Entertainers
- Ron
Afif,
Recorded 5 or so
albums for the Pablo label. His latest being "Solotude" a solo
effort. His mother`s brother is the celebrated guitarist Ron Anthony
(Sinatra's guitarist 1985-1993). His father Charlie was a middle
weight champion fighter
- Walid
Akl,
World-renowned pianist
- Paul
Anka,
One of
America's first pop teen idols.
- Yasmine Bleeth,
Actress in the "Baywatch" Series
- John
Bowab,
Directed "Soap," "Benson," "Bosom
Buddies," "The Facts of Life," and the last season
and a half of the "The Cosby Show."
- Jonathon
Brandmeier,
Radio talk show host
- Don
Bustany,
Created and produced "American Top 40" and "American
Country Countdown." Recently added "Casey's Top
40" and "Casey's Country Countdown."
- Elie
Chaib,
Dancer. Both youngest and oldest performer with the
famous Paul Taylor company. In 1992 he was named the "Dancer of
the Year" by the New York Times.
- Dick Dale,
King of the Surf Guitar
- George S. Dibie,
Emmy Award-winning cinematographer-director. Now President of the
International Photographers Guild.
- George
Durgom, Through the
years, managed Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn
Monroe.
- Bechara El
Khoury,
World-renowned
musician.
- Rosalind Elias,
Opera prima donna
who hit the high notes at the Met., NY.
- Shannon Elizabeth,
(Fadal) - Best known for her "American Pie" movie where
she plays the sexy Czech student. Her website: http://www.ShannonElizabeth.com/
- Jamie Farr,
Actor. Farr is best known in his role as Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger
in the TV show M*A*S*H.
- Sammy
Haggar,
Former lead
vocalist for Van Halen.
- Khrystyne Haje,
Actress. Best known in her role as Simone Foster in the television
series Head of the Class.
- Jack Hanna, Popular host of the hit television series,
"Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures," one of America's most
beloved naturalists and adventurers.
- Salma
Hayek,
Superstar of Hollywood hits such as "Desperado" with
Antonio Banderas and "Fools Rush In". Salma is mixed
Lebanese and Mexican.
- Dan
Hedaya, Played
many flavorful character parts in features, often portraying cops
(The Hunger, 1983; Tightrope, 1984; Running Scared, 1986; The Usual
Suspects, 1995), crime figures, or crusty regular guys. His most
indelible impression was made in Blood Simple (1984), the landmark
independent feature debut of the Coen brothers.
- Waleed
Howrani,
World-renowned
musician, concert pianist and composer.
- Paul
Jabara,
Oscar winning composer for "Last Dance" from Thank
God It's Friday.
- Mike Joseph,
Pioneered the concept of a radio programming
consultant in 1958
- Mario Kassar,
Former chairman of Carolco Pictures, the movie company that
produced such blockbusters as Rambo, Terminator 2, and Total Recall.
At one time he ran a billion-dollar industry.
- Asaad Kelad,
Has done numerous series like "Family Ties" and
episodes of "The Facts of Life," "Who's the Boss?,"
"WKRP in Cincinnati," etc.
- Herbert
Khaury,
Lebanese-American folk singer known to all of his fans as "Tiny
Tim"
- Callie
Khoury,
First woman to
receive an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay -- for "Thelma and
Louise"
- Emile Kuri,
Nominated eight times
for films like Mary Poppins. Won the Oscar twice -- for "The
Heiress" and Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
- Wendie Malick,
"One of the stars of NBC’s hit show Just
Shoot Me
- Kristy
McNichol,
Actress. Best known in her role as Bubby Lawrence on the late
1970s TV show Family. Also best known in her as an undercover
cop on the TV show Empty Nest.
- Michael
Nader, Actor in the "Dynasty" series.
- Michelle
Nader, Comedy writer of the TV Series "Spin City"
- Kathy
Najimy,
Actress
and activist, "Veronica's Closet", "Sister
Act", "Rat Race". Her website: http://kathynajimy.com/
- Michael
Nouri,
The leading man who starred in the movie Flashdance; later seen in
TV's "Love and War" sitcom.
- Harold
Ramis, Wrote and directed over the past twenty years over a
dozen films, several of which are among the highest grossing
comedies of all time. In 1978, Animal House became a
blockbuster, and Harold began a long, successful (and hilarious)
string of hits, including Meatballs, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters,
Back to School, Groundhog Day, Analyze This and most recently, Bedazzled.
- Keanu
Reeves, That's
right. Keanu was born in Beirut in the 1970's. He is mixture of
Hawaiian, Chinese, and American.
- Diane Rehm,
Host and
executive producer of "The Diane Rehm Show" on National Public
Radio (NPR).
- Fouad Said,
The cinematographer who designed Cinemobile -- the first customized
van for filming on location -- while working on the TV series
"I Spy". For this achievement, he received a Technical
Academy Award in 1970
- Fred Saidy,
Wrote two classics, "Finian's Rainbow" and "Bloomer
Girl."
- Lucie Salhany,
Former chairwoman for Fox
Broadcasting Co. and former chairwoman for United
Paramount (TV) Network
- Elie
Samaha,
Producer
and owner of Franchise Pictures; Films: Driven, The whole nine
yards, The Pledge, Battle Field Earth, Heist, Exit Wounds
- Neil
Sedaka, Lebanese American singer
- Shakira,
World-renowned rock
singer. Born in Columbia of Lebanese descent.
- Tony
Shalhoub,
One of
the alien men in Men In Black
- Omar
Sharif, Born
Michael Shalhoub in Alexandria, Egypt in 1932, to Lebanese parents.
- Tom
Shidyac,
Director. Directed such well known movies like Ace Ventura: Pet
Detective, and The Nutty Professor
- G. E. Smith,
Former bandleader for many years for NBC TVs
"Saturday Night Live."
- James Stacy,
Played James Stacy in the popular TV drama "Laramie."
- Michael
Tadross, Was the unit production manager for Die
Hard III, Devil's Advocate, and many other movies.
- Julie Taymor,
The creative
mastermind behind the Broadway version of Disney's "The Lion
King." She also directed the powerful film "Titus."
- The
Late Danny Thomas,
Founder
of St. Jude Hospital for Children, comedian and star of sit-com,
"Make Room For Daddy".
- Marlo Thomas,
Actress and Producer. Daughter of the late actor Danny Thomas. Marlo
has won Emmy Awards and is best known for her role in That Girl
- Tony Thomas,
Producer. Son of the late actor Danny Thomas. Has won Emmy Awards
for his productions
- Tiffany,
The first teenage singer to have her first two singles both hit number
one
- Gabriel
Yared,
Academy Award
winner, music score composer for the movie "The English
patient".
- Amy
Yasbeck,
Actress. Played in the TV series Wings and played in the movies
Problem Child and Robin Hood Men in Tights.
- David Yazbeck,
Wrote the lyrics and score for "The Full
Monty"
- Frank
Zappa, Former
legend in the world of
rock
-
Moustapha Akkad,
famous movie director / producer
including blockbusters such as the "Halloween" series, "Omar Al
Mukhtar", and "The messenger".
- Rene Angelil, Celine Dion's
Manager / husband
|
Ambassadors,
Diplomats and
Politicians
- Francis G. Slay Mayor, City of St. Louis
- Army Gen. John Abizaid, of
Lebanese origin, has taken over as head of the U.S. Central Command in
Iraq and Afghanistan
- Chris Abboud,
Nebraska State Senator
- James
Abdnor, US Senator of South Dakota (1981-1986)
- James
Abourezk,
U.S. Senator of South Dakota
(1971-1979)
- Spencer Abraham,
The new Secretary of Energy of the United States of America . He is
a third-generation American of Lebanese descent. Born in
Michigan. Was also a U.S. Senator representing the state of
Michigan.
- John Ash, Mayor, Olean (NY)
- William N. Aswad,
Vermont State Representative
- Victor
Atiyeh, Governor of
Oregon (1979-1987)
- Suzanne Azar,
Mayor, El Paso (TX) 1989-1991
- John
Baldacci,
Congressman (ME)
- Michael
Baroody, Asst Secretary, US Department of Labor (1985-1988)
- William
Baroody Jr, Asst to the President, Office of Public Liaison
(1973-1977)
- Timothy Bryan,
City Council Member, Massillon (OH)
- David Cappiello, Connecticut
State Representative
- George Crady, Florida
State Representative
- Mitch Daniels,
Assistant to the President, Political and Intergovernmental Affairs
(1985-1987)
- Pat Danner,
Former Congresswoman (MO)
- Brenda Elias, Mayor, Franklin (NH) 1989-1994
- George Ellis, Texas
Court of Appeals
- Edward J. Elum, Jr. -
Judge on the Massillon (OH)
Municipal Court.
- Joe Farris, West Virginia
State Delegate
- Elias Francis,
Former Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico.
- Edward Gabriel,
U.S. Ambassador to the kingdom of Morocco
- Jeannie A. Gregory,
City Clerk, South Pasadena (CA)
- Edmond
Haddad, Deputy Asst Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy
(1987-1988)
- Philip C.
Habib,
Former U.S. Ambassador and Presidential Envoy under the Ronald Reagan
Administration
- William A. Hamzy, Connecticut
State Representative
- Helen Bishara Huey,
City Council Member, Houston
(TX)
- Richard
Ieyoub, Attorney General for the State of Louisiana
- Daniel Issa, Rhode Island
State Senator
- Darrell
Issa,
Congressman (CA)
- Teresa Issac, Vice Mayor, Lexington (KY)
- Richard Iyoub,
Current Attorney General of Louisiana.
- Michael J. Jarjura, Connecticut
State Representative
- Chris John,
Congressman (Louisiana)
- Ruth Joseph, Mayor, Waterville (ME)
- James Kaddo, Judge, Superior court of California)
- Stephen Kafoury, Oregon
State Senator, 1977-1980
- Dr. Hamid Claude Kantara
D.O., First Lebanese immigrant
to be elected to City Council in Galveston County.
- Pete Karem,
Former Chief Justice of
the Circuit Court in Jefferson County Ky
- George
Kasem, Former Congressman (CA)
- Theodore
Kattouf, U.S Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates
- Abraham
Kazen, Former Congressman
(TX)
- Steven Kfoury,
City Council President, Lawrence (MA)
- Don Korrey, County
Commissioner, Logan County (CO)
1990-1994
- Ray
LaHood,
Congressman (IL)
- George Latimer,
Former Mayor of St. Paul Minnesota.
- Thomas Lazieh, Mayor, Central Falls (RI) 1990-1996
- James Maloof,
Former Mayor of Peoria, IL
- Marianne Yarid McGuire, Michigan
State Board of Education
- George Mitchell,
Former U.S. Senate
Majority Leader; Lebanese on his mother's side.
- Herb Mocol, Mayor, Mankato (MN) 1972-1987
- Toby Moffett,
US Representative of
Connecticut (1975-1982)
- George Mowad, Mayor, Oakdale (LA) 1972-1992
- Joseph Nahra, Ohio
Court of Appeals
- Lee Namey, Mayor, Wilkes-Barre (PA) 1988-1995
- Thomas
Nassif, U.S. Ambassador
to Morocco (1985-1988)
- Mary Rose
Oakar, US Representative of Ohio (1977-1993)
- Nick Rahall II,
20-year veteran Congressman of West Virginia, grandson of Lebanese
immigrants.
- Selwa Roosevelt,
American Ambassador and longest-serving White House Chief of
Protocol (1982-1989)
- Joan Haddad Saliba, Mayor, Hartwell (GA)
- George Shadid, Illinois
State Senator
- Randel C. Shadid, Mayor, Edmond (OK)
- Jeanne Shaheen, Governor of
the State of New Hampshire
- Donna
Shalala, Former Secretary of State for Health and Human Services under the Clinton
Administration (and the longest to serve in the post)
- Greg
Simon, Director of Domestic Policy, Office of Vice President
- Anthony Solomon, Rhode Island
State Treasurer, 1976-1984,
1989-1992
- John E.
Sununu Sr,
Former Governor (NH)
and White House Chief of Staff (1989-1991)
- John
Sununu Jr, Congressman (NH)
- James J. Tayoun,
City Councilman, Philadelphia (PA)
1975-1987
- Helen Thomas,
a 50-year veteran with U.S. International and the Dean of the White
House Press Corps; served with eight U.S. presidents since 1961
- Richard Thomas, County
Commission Chairman, Hampden County
(MA)
- Rose Allan Tucker, County Commissioner, Luzerne County -
Chairwoman 1991-1995 (PA)
- Marcelle Wahba,
U.S. Ambassador
- Brian Wahby, Assistant
City Treasurer, St. Louis (MO)
- Tracy A. Yokich, Michigan
State Representative 1991-1996
- Sam Hanna
Zakhem, U.S Ambassador (1986-1989) and Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Charles Zogby, Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania
|
Sportsmen
- Jim Baxis,
Former second baseman for Cleveland Indians
baseball team.
- Eddie Elias,
Founded the Bowling Association of America.
- John
Elway,
Former quarterback for the Denver
Broncos football team.
- Doug Flutie,
Quarterback for the San Diego Chargers football team.
- Bill George,
Former Hall of Fame linebacker for the Chicago Bears football team.
- Jeff George,
Quarterback for the Washington
Redskins football team.
- Elias Ghanem,
Head of the Las Vegas Boxing Association.
- Abe Gibran,
Former offensive lineman and coach for the Chicago
Bears football team.
- Brian
Habib,
Former lineman for the Denver
Broncos and Seattle Seahawks
football teams.
- John Jaha,
The first baseman
for the Oakland A's.
- Kerbawy family,
Former owners
of the Detroit Lions football team.
- Rich Kotite,
Former NFL coach
- Joe Lahoud,
Former leftfielder for the Boston
Red Sox baseball team.
- Fred Maalouf,
Former quarterback for the St.
Louis Cardinals football team.
- George Maloof,
Former owner of the Houston
Rockets NBA basketball team.
- Maloof Brothers,
Owners of the
Sacramento Kings basketball team.
- Zuhair "Steve" Mansour,
Weightlifting's Grandmaster of the World in 1990.
- Bobby Rahal,
Won the Indianapolis 500 in auto racing
in 1986. Current CART team owner; acted as interim president-CEO of
CART until Dec., 2000 but resigned to assume position with Jaguar
Formula One team.
- Joe Robbie,
Former owner of the Miama Dolphins football team.
- Fuad Rubeiz,
Former kicker for
the Minnesota Vikings football
team.
- Fred
Saigh,
Former owner of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
- Pete Sarron,
Former featherweight boxing champion.
- Rony Seikaly,
Former NBA center for various clubs.
- Frank Skaff,
Former manager
for the Detroit Tigers baseball team.
- Victor Taweel,
Former
lightweight boxing champion.
- Samir Bannout, Mr Olympia 1983
Lebanese Australians
|
Businessmen,
Industrialists and Financiers
- Robert Abboud,
Former President of the First National Bank
of Chicago.
- Ziad K. Abdelnour,
Dealmaker, Financier, Venture Capitalist, Registered Lobbyist. Financed over 60
US private companies
since 1986 raising over $2 billion in capital; sits on the Board of 15
of them. President & Founder of the U.S Committee for a Free
Lebanon, Inc , Former President of the Arab
Bankers Association of North America and Publisher of the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin
Son of Lebanese MP Khalil Abdelnour
- Richard
Abdoo, President & CEO of Wisconsin Energy Corporation and Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Anthony
Abraham, Miami's Chevrolet king, Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Sarkis
Acopian, Businessman, Philanthropist, Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Waleed
Ali & Malik Ali, Founded MPI, the
world's largest home-video distributor of documentaries.
- Simon Assad, co-CEO of Heavy.com, a music site that was nominated
for a Webby, the Internet's highest honor.
- Ronald Assaf, Founder,
former CEO and current Chairman of Sensormatic Electronics
Corporation, an international company with revenues of $1 billion,
doing business in 80 countries and Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Joseph Audi,
President and CEO of Bank Audi (USA).
- George Barbar,
Florida based real estate tycoon, Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Ghassan Bejjani,
General Partner, Morgan Stanley Venture
Partners, one of the most
prominent private equity groups on Wall Street.
- George Boutros,
Known as "The Fiercest Tech Mergers and Aquisitions Banker In
The World." Heads a 70-man Tech M&A team @ Credit
Suisse First Boston in San Fransisco. Son of former Lebanese
Minister of Foreign Affairs Fouad Boutros.
- Fouad Chartouni,
Owner and operator of the most famous hotel of the Stars, the Lowell
Hotel.
- Camille
Chebeir, President of SEDCO Services; investment arm of the Bin
Mahfouz family of Saudi Arabia and Former President of the Arab
Bankers Association of North America
- Raymond Debbane,
President of the Invus Group, a multi-million dollar private equity
firm specializing in buyouts and venture capital
- Derek E.
Dewan, Chairman and CEO of Modis Incorporated, a $1 billion
information technology services subsidiary of Modis Professional
Services, Inc.(NYSE:MPS) and Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Nabil El Hage,
President and CEO of Jeepers, Inc, and famous turnaround operator.
- Roger Farah, President, CEO and Director
of Polo Ralph Lauren. Previously served as Chairman of the Board of
Ventaor Group Inc., the parent company of Footlocker
- Nijad Fares,
President of Wedge Group, USA and President of the American Task
Force for Lebanon. Son of Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares.
- Michel T. Halbouty,
Ellis Island Medal of Honor -
Recognized as one of the world's foremost geologists and petroleum
engineers and is acclaimed for his scientific expertise. Read American
Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation, and Ellis Island Medal of Honor
- George
A. Hamid, Jr. - Businessman and circus owner. Besides owning
circuses and state fairs, Hamid operated the Steel Pier, a large
amusement park that featured live entertainers.
- Dr. Ray Irani,
Former chemist with dozens of patents. Became Armand Hammer's successor as Chairman of the Board at Oxy;
President and Chief Executive Officer of Occidental
Petroleum. AUB Alumnus
- Tony Ismail,
Entrepreneur who founded the largest retailer
of flags store in Dallas The
Alamo Flag Company
- Dr. Joseph Jacobs,
Founder of an international, billion-dollar engineering group,
"Jacobs Engineering Group"
NYSE "JEC".
- Joseph
D. Jamail, Texas lawyer who won the biggest settlement in U.S.
history, on behalf of Pennzoil ($10 billion dollars). Listed #189 on Forbes
list of the 400 richest Americans.
- George
Joseph, #317 on Forbes
list of the 400 richest Americans.
- Abdo Kadifa, President
and CEO of Corio Inc, a leading Silicon Valley based Enterprise
Application Service Provider.
- Habib Kairouz,
Managing Partner of RHO
Management, Inc., a multi-million dollar private equity firm
specializing in venture capital
- John Mack,
Investment banking legend. Ex-CEO of Morgan Stanley, now
CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston.
- Bob
Manikian and brothers, Personal brokers to the Prince of Brunei
(richest man in the world ) - They are 90th richest on UK TOP 100.
- Ned Mansour,
President of Mattel,
Inc. in 1999, the maker of Barbie dolls.
- Sam
Moore, Owner of Thomas Nelson Publishers
- The
Naify Brothers, Founded cable television in the 50s. At one
time both brothers owned 60% of United Artist theaters. Father
Michael Naify was the former CEO for United Artist Communications.
- Yousef Nasr, CEO of
HSBC Bank USA
- Jack
Nasser, Former President of the Ford Motor
Company.
- Paul Orfalea,
Founder/CEO of Kinkos
- Richard Edward Rainwater,
#127 on Forbes
list of the 400 richest Americans.
- Khalil
Rizk, Founder of the famous New York based Chinese Porcelain
Company
- Charles
Rozwat, Executive VP of Server Technologies - ORACLE
CORPORATION
- Abdo Sabban,
AUB
Alumnus. Founder of multi-million dollar real estate co. Treasurer
of the AANA.
- Naseeb
Saliba, Founder of Tutor-Saliba Corporation, one of the largest
privately held international General Contracting firms in the world,
with over $ 6 billion in completed work. Also Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- George Shaheen,
Former President of Anderson
Consulting - one of the Top 4 Consulting Firms in America. Resigned
and was CEO of Webvan, ex-on-line
grocery delivery service.
- Joseph Shaker, Jr.,
His father founded Shaker
Advertising. Today Shaker Advertising is the oldest and most
respected Advertising Firm in the Midwest. Their headquarters is in
Chicago, IL.
- Tony Tamer,
co-Founder and CEO of HIG
Capital, a multi-million dollar private
equity firm specializing in buyouts and venture capital
- Roger
Tamraz, Financier, Oil man, one of the top 10 campaign
contributors to former President Bill Clinton.
- Peter
J. Tanous, President of Lynx
Investment Advisory, the author of 2 books on investment
analysis, one of which is "The Wealth Equation," published
by the New York Institute of Finance. Founder of the American Task
Force for Lebanon.
- The Late Dave Thomas,
Founder of fast food chain Wendy's.
Passed away in January 2002. Was adopted by Lebanese parents.
- Bryan
J. Zwan Ph.D., Founded fiber-optic equipment company Digital
Lightwave 1990; IPO 1997. #391
on
Forbes
list of the 400 richest Americans.
|
Military
Figures
- Victor DelNore, Former U.S
Commander of the Nagasaki Military Government
- Colonel James Jabara,
of the U.S. Air Force; Korean War hero
- General George Joulwan,
West
Point graduate; commanded both the U.S. and NATO forces in Europe
- Navy Lt. Alfred Naifeh,
Navy hero; in 1944, one of our Navy ships, the destroyer USS Naifeh
was named in his honor
- Maj. Gen. Fred Safay,
WWII Army Officer; fought alongside General Patton
- Colonel Alfred Shihab,
of the US armed forces that landed in Lebanon in 1958.
- Brig. Gen. Elias Stevens,
WWII
Army Officer; served on Gen. Eisenhower's staff
- General Antoine Zinni,
U.S Presidential Envoy to the Middle East under the George W. Bush
Administration.
|
Activists
- Fouad Ajami, Scholar, Academic, Consultant, Activist and
Head of Middle East Studies at John Hopkins University.
- Rabih Aridi,
Treasurer
and Board Member of Amnesty International USA.
- Bill Ferris, Chairman of the National
Endowment for the Humanities
- Abdeen Jabara, Lawyer
and an activist, former President and founding member of the ADC;
Also one of the founders of the AAUG, PHRC, and ACCESS.
- Ralph Johns,
A key white participant in the civil rights movement in the 1960's;
encouraged the famous Woolworth 'sit-in' at a lunch counter in
Greensboro, North Carolina
- Candy Lightner,
Founder of MADD (Mothers Against
Drunk Driving)
- Habib Malik,
Scholar, Human Rights Activist and Academic. Son of the late
Charles Malik, one of the founding members of the United Nations
Charter.
- Ralph Nader,
Ex-Presidential
candidate and Head of the Green Party.
- Nagy Najjar,
Executive
Director of the Lebanese Foundation for Peace
- Daniel Nassif, US
Representative of the Council of Lebanese American
Organizations,
Activist, Consultant, Lobbyist.
- Edward M. Salem,
Chairman of the International
Maronite Foundation
- George Salem,
Partner, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, National Head
of the U.S. Department of Labor Practice &
Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Camille
Sarrouf, Senior partner of the Boston law firm of Sarrouf,
Tarricone & Flemming, former
president of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. Also
passionately and actively involved with St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and was the Chairman of its Board of
Governors from 1994 to 1998.
Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Berge
Setrakian, Partner, Law Offices of Whitman and Ransom, Vice
President of the American General Benevolent Union and Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Paul Michael Wihbey,
IASPS Strategic Fellow who specializes in US energy and security in
the Persian Gulf and adjacent areas. As a former vice president of
the Federal Liberal Party of Canada during the Trudeau
Administration, he was a member of the Canadian parliamentary and
diplomatic fact-finding missions to Lebanon in the early 1980s. Also
serves as a consultant on Middle East security, economics and
political issues to US-based multinationals, Congress and the
Department of Defense.
- Stephen P. Yokich, Union leader. In 1995 he became the
eighth president of the sixty-year-old UAW, a labor union officially
named the International Union of United Automobile, Aerospace, and
Agricultural Implement Workers of America.
- James Zogby,
President of the
American Arab Institute
- John Zogby,
One of America's
preeminent pollsters, keeping tabs on public opinion and other
statistics, founder of Zogby
International.
- George Zoghby, President
of the Mobile Area Chapter of the National Alliance of Lebanese
Americans
- Joanne McKenna,
fourth-generation Lebanese-American, McKenna
was president of the
National Association of Arab Americans
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Doctors
and Scientists
- Dr Badih Abou Jaoude PhD, Inventor of 1st World
Environmental Day 10 years prior to
UN, by UNDP's recognition
- Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah, Inventor for GE in the 1920s, 52
different patents among one of the first patents on television tubes
and solar energy panels.
- Ghassan Antar Ph.D, At the
University
of California in San Diego, a plasma physicist.
- Nicholas
S. Assal, Medical researcher. Helps doctors in the world
prevent and treat complications during pregnancy and birth.
- Dr.
Amin Barakat MD, Famous
Pediatrician and Professor of Medicine - Georgetown University
Medical Center. Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Dr. Bassam A. Bassam M.D.,
Professor of Neurology at the
University of South Alabama, Department of Neurology.
- Dr. Elias Corey,
Chemist. Won the 1990 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
for developing a logical process that changed the face of synthetic
chemistry.
- Dr. Michael DeBakey,
World
Famous heart surgeon currently working in Houston, TX. Invented
the heart pump. Today he's chancellor of Baylor
University's College of Medicine.
- George A. Doumani,
Geologist whose explorations helped prove the theory of
continental drift. He has a mountain peak named after him in
Antarctica.
- Dr. Charles Elachi,
Director
of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
- Michael Fakih, MD, Recognized
worldwide as a leader in his field. His innovative GIFT technique -
using the woman's follicular fluid to treat sperm and serve as a
transfer medium - has revolutionized the procedure. The improvement
nearly doubles the success rate of the GIFT procedure.
- Dr. Fran Jabara, Professor of Business Administration and
Entrepreneurship at Wichita State
University and the founder (in 1977) of the Center for
Entrepreneurship at Wichita State University. A building at the
University has been named in his honor as Jabara Hall. He is a
relative of the late Col. James Jabara (see Military),
America's first triple jet ace in the Korean War.
- George a. Kyrala Ph.D - AKA George Amine Khairallah from
Bhamdoun. An atomic physicist with a Ph.D
from Yale and fellow of the SPIE.
Recently won an international prize for high speed photography.
- Christa McAuliffe,
Teacher
and Astronaut. Was one of the seven crew members on board the
space shuttle Challenger that exploded shortly after launch.
- Dr. Anis Razzouk MD,
Prominent heart surgeon at
Loma Linda University Hospital in Riverside, CA.
- Dr. Philip Salem,
Famous Texas based oncologist and
Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Jack Shaheen,
Former Emeritus Professor of Mass Communications at
Southern Ilinois University.
- Edward M. Sion, Ph.D, Scientific Editor, The
Astrophysical Journal; Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Dept.
of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Villanova
University.
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Academics
and Media Figures
- David Adamany,
President of Wayne State University in Detroit.
- Helena Cobban, Author
of The Syrian-Israeli Peace Talks: 1991-96 and Beyond (USIP
Press, Feb. 2000) and of The Moral Architecture of World Peace:
Nobel Laureates Discuss Our Global Future (University Press of
Virginia, May 2000). A veteran writer and columnist on global
issues.
- Raghida Dergham,
Senior Diplomatic Correspondent at Al-Hayat
- Joseph Farah,
Editor in Chief of WorldNetDaily
- Fawaz Gerges,
Christian A. Johnson Chair in International Affairs and Middle East
Studies at Sarah Lawrence College. His latest book is American
and Political Islam (Cambridge University Press, 1999)
- Zeina B. Ghandour, Born in Beirut in 1966 and studied at
Kent University, specializing in Islamic and Jewish law, wrote
"The Honey": a story about contemporary Palestine that
revolves around a village muezzin’s daughter, Ruhiya, who breaches
one of the deepest taboos of Islam by performing the call to the
dawn prayer.
- Samuel John Hazo, Poet. In 1993, Pennsylvania named Hazo
its first poet laureate, or official state poet.
- Brian Karem, Of Lebanese descent and nephew to David Karem
of Louisville KY. Former television correspondent for America's
Most Wanted and NBC.
- Emile Kuri, Was Head set decorator for Disney.
Won two Oscars for his set decorations in two films.
- Dr. Luz Lenis Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences for sophomores at Fordham
University, Bronx, NY
- Amin Maalouf, Journalist and writer. In 1993
won the
Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary award.
- Steven Naifeh, Won
the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for his
biography "Jackson Pollock: An American Saga".
- Fred Saidy, Broadway playwright.
Wrote two classics,
Finian's Rainbow and Bloomer Girls.
- Cindy Mohammad Saleh, Teenage Lebanese-American Poet.
- Mike Toney, Played 'Fat Sally' in Martin Scorsese's
film Casino.
- Nido Qubein, Writer-lecturer on business and
success. Became President of the National Speakers' Association and
the youngest member inducted into the International Speakers' Hall of
Fame.
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Fashion
- Joseph Abboud,
World famous designer of men's line of clothing carrying
his name "Joseph Abboud".
- Reem Acra,
Emerging woman's fashion designer of the New York scene.
- Mansour Farah, Manufacturer.
Founded a
multimillion-dollar menswear manufacturing company called Farah's.
- Joseph Marion Haggar, Manufacturer.
Was the founder and
former chairman of the country's leading manufacturers of men's
clothing. The company name Haggar
Corporation.
- Norma
Kamali, Fashion designer. Her clothing line OMO
Norma Kamali is known throughout the world.
- The Maloof Family, Manufactured Mod-O-Day women's dresses.
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Artists,
Clergy & Poets
- William
Peter Blatty,
Author. Best known for his best-selling
book and Academy Award-winning screenplay The Exorcist.
- Vance Bourjaily,
Novelist. Known for his nonfiction
articles about outdoor activities, some of which have been published
in collections like his 1997 book Fishing by Mail: An Outdoor Life
of a Father and son.
- Most Reverend Bishop
Stephen H. Doueihi, of St.
Maron of Brooklyn for the Maronites and
Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Hussam A. Fadhi,
Award-winning sculptor whose work is displayed around the world,
including the Bush Presidential Library.
- Gibran
Khalil Gibran: Highly respected poet/thinker. Born and bred in
Lebanon. Moved to Boston in later years. His book "The
Prophet" has been translated to tens of languages. Has
a park built in his honor in downtown Boston where
he lived most of the later years of his life. The park is
symbolically situated between a library and a church.
- Raymond
Kayal Sr., National Chairman of the Order of St. Nicholas,
member of the Melkite Eparchial Finance Council and Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Sam Maloof,
Woodworker whose quality work is in
great demand. Has had creations appear in the White
House, Smithsonian Institution, the Vatican and other renowned exhibit
halls.
- Ameen Rihani, Writer,
Philosopher, Political Thinker
- Metropolitan Philip Saliba,
Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- Archbishop Francis M.
Zayek, Recipient
of Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
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* Credits go to AMALID www.amalid.com
and to the Arab American Institute Foundation http://www.aaiusa.org/