Creating a Lasting Legacy

The Ali-Ahmed Family

The legacy of the Ali-Ahmed family goes back to 1959, when the late Lamia Sabbah Ali-Ahmed graduated from Beirut College for Women (BCW), now LAU, with a psychology degree. Today, her legacy lives on in the form of another student who is following that same educational path, all thanks to a scholarship created in her memory by her children: Rania, Fadi, Rim, and Rami Ali-Ahmed.

The Ali-Ahmed Designated Scholarship, established in the summer of 2018, is funding one female psychology student from Nabatieh, Lebanon until her graduation, which are the two criteria for being awarded the scholarship, along with financial need.

When they honored their mother’s legacy with a scholarship at LAU, Lamia Sabbah Ali-Ahmed’s children also uncovered her senior thesis. The psychology research, which is considered valuable work on social issues surrounding rural and urban adolescents in Lebanon, tackled seven issues that remain, surprisingly, the same concerns of today’s youth.

Her children republished the avant-garde thesis in a book title Coming of Age in Lebanon, which was distributed at a special event held at LAU in January 2019. The thesis and its impact were discussed at the launch, and gathered faculty members, family, and friends of the Ali-Ahmeds to honor the late alumna.

The legacy of the Ali-Ahmed family will forever be cherished at LAU, through both the scholarship and Coming of Age in Lebanon.