LAU dedicates business dean’s office to Sheikh Essam Fayez Makarem
The School of Business at LAU dedicated a luxury suite on the Beirut campus to philanthropist Sheikh Essam Fayez Makarem, during a ceremony on June 15 in gratitude for his support and a generous donation of $65,000 to the school.
Speakers praised the prominent business leader outside the new Essam Fayez Makarem Suite, comprised of the offices of the dean and his assistant on the top floor of the Business Building, for his continued support of education in Lebanon.
“We are gathered here today to honor a person who embodies the gift of giving,” said LAU President Dr. Joseph Jabbra during the ceremony, which was organized by the university’s Development Office.
“He is a person who has been serving Lebanon, his community, and his society by his good deeds,” Jabbra added. “What is a better, a more noble cause than the cause of education? So, we are privileged today to honor Sheikh Essam Makarem because of his commitment to academic institutions.”
Makarem was born and spent much of his life in Nigeria where he established several successful businesses including Moukarim Metalwood Factory Limited, a furniture-manufacturing company; Mouka Limited, a foam-manufacturing outfit; and Nigeria Gas and Steel Ltd., which produces steel pipes and sheets, wires and nails.
“To name a space at the School of Business is not an easy decision as one needs to keep in mind what serves best the interests of our university, our school, its students, and our community,” said Dr. Tarek Mikdashi, dean of the Business School in Beirut.
Makarem said he chose to support LAU’s School of Business with the hope that the students will go on to help ease “economic and financial hardships” that many countries are suffering from.
“It is our duty to support institutions that promote and encourage education, and from which future generations will graduate, with the vision to perhaps offer solutions to today’s economic ailments,” he said.
“I have chosen LAU to materialize my belief in such support,” he added, “[because] this university has proven to be one of the world-class institutions of higher education which is providing our new generations with a second-to-none education, allowing them to become achievers in their careers and leaders in their society.”
