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| Board
of Directors |
| Jacob
van Lutsenburg Maas, President Jacob van Lutsenburg Maas has devoted his career to promoting human capital growth in developing countries. After several years of teaching at the secondary school and university levels in the USA and Uganda, he completed a Ph.D. in comparative education and sociology at Columbia University, Teachers College in 1975. He joined the World Bank in 1974 where he prepared policies, led education lending operations or managed Human Development Units or Divisions in the Bank’s Asia, Latin America and Africa Regions. He capped off his World Bank Group career by transferring in 1997 to the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the Group to pioneer private investments in the education industries of member states and prepare IFC's initial policies and practices for investing in private education institutions and companies. He retired from IFC in 2001 and became Vice President of the Coordinating Council for International Universities (www.cciuniversities.org) in 2002, before becoming its President in January 2006. He directed CCIU's feasibility study for the American University of Afghanistan from July 2003 to January 2005, in response to a request from the Afghan Government and supported by a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency. He incorporated the American University of Afghanistan Foundation, Inc. as a non-profit Corporation in the State of Delaware in February 2004, became a founding member of the University's Board of Trustees in August 2004, and after its reorganization in December, 2005, was re-elected as the Foundation’s President in March, 2006. Back To Top |
| Maryam
Qudrat, Vice President Maryam Qudrat is an activist and spokesperson for the Afghan-American and Muslim communities. After September 11th, she founded the Afghan Institute for Development (AID) a non-profit, non-partisan think tank organization whose goal is to bridge the people of Afghanistan with the United States by documenting conditions there, helping to influence the new government’s policies, and recognizing journalists who write accurately and thoughtfully about the country’s situation. AID helps Afghan people become more active in the public policy of their government in areas such as education, infrastructure, the role of women, and mending the adverse psychological impact of war. In 2003, Maryam authored a book entitled Torn Between Two Cultures: An Afghan-American Woman Speaks Out. In this work and throughout her many years of activism that date back to high school, she delves into the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan through the hyphenated identity and works to bridge the cultural divides. She has taught philosophy at California State University, Long Beach and joined the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington D.C. in April 2005 to serve as an advocate of women’s rights in Afghanistan through higher education as the Women’s Affairs and Social Institutions Officer. Back To Top |
| Beau
Lendman, Treasurer Beau Lendman has 20 years of experience doing project development work in emerging markets. He has focused on developing alliances between companies in emerging markets and European and U.S. partners. Mr. Lendman has served scores of U.S. and emerging market companies, in more than a dozen industries throughout Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He has further specialized in complex business planning and financial modeling to support the venture development process. Mr. Lendman has developed an entrepreneurial system to transfer know-how to emerging market companies to empower them to meet world-class operating standards and pursue their strategic potential. He has raised finance for ventures from public, private and multilateral sources including the International Finance Corporation, U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation and U.S. Trade & Development Agency. Mr.
Lendman is currently a key executive with HII-Finance, Corp., a
privately held investment group with an asset base of approximately
$100 Million. Mr. Lendman has successfully managed numerous businesses
and business ventures for HII-Finance in both the United States
and the Middle East ranging from an e-commerce computer business
to a liquid petroleum gas venture in the Middle East partially funded
by the U.S Trade & Development Agency and the U.S. Overseas
Private Investment Corporation. His activities in the managed businesses
and ventures have been defined by having all achieve world class
operating standards. |
| Akram
Fazel, Secretary Akram Fazel holds a Ph.D. in Microbial Genetics from SUNY. His experience includes serving as a Professor of biochemistry at the University of Paris, work as a research scientist at the Pasteur Institute in France, head of the biotechnology group and Vice President of Research and Quality Assurance for the Danone Group and Vice President of Skin Care Research for the L’Oreal group in France. Dr. Fazel was elected member of the Loya Jirga to select the President of Afghanistan, is a member of the high commission of education for Afghanistan and was selected as a member of the constitutional Loya Jirga in Afghanistan to adopt the constitution of Afghanistan. He is also the head of the National Commission on Norms and Standards in Afghanistan and the author of numerous scientific articles in science journals. Dr. Fazel is also familiar with the economic climate as an investor in various economic domains in Afghanistan (www.fkh-group.com). Back To Top |
Mariam
A. Nawabi, Director From January
2004 to January 2006, she was Commercial & Trade Counsel at
the Embassy of Afghanistan. During her tenure, she established the
first commercial service for Afghanistan in the U.S. Prior to joining
the Embassy, Mariam was an Associate Attorney at Dechert LLP in
Washington, D.C. from 1999 until 2003, practicing litigation and
intellectual property law. Mariam has been actively involved in
legal reform for Afghanistan since 2002. She provided recommendations
on women’s rights in the new constitution through the United
Nations and has been the Coordinating Attorney for the Afghanistan
Commercial Law Project since 2003, which entails providing recommendations
to the Afghan government on numerous areas of law. |
| Marjorie
Peace Lenn, Director Marjorie Peace Lenn is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Quality Assurance in International Education located at the National Center for Higher Education in Washington, D.C. A former senior administrator at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Vice-President of the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (the former umbrella organization for the accreditation of 6,000 institutions in the U.S. ), Dr. Lenn is published in several languages and speaks extensively to international and domestic audiences. Dr. Lenn serves as a member of several international governing and editorial boards and is involved in such activities as: bridging western higher education practice with the ministries of Central and Eastern Europe through UNESCO, Council of Europe, and the World Bank initiatives; assisting the Committee of University Principals in the initiation of education evaluation in the Republic of South Africa, serving on the World Bank's Higher Education Sector Team for the People's Republic of China and living and working in China during 1995-96 as Senior Advisor to the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council. Dr. Lenn consults with major international organization such as the World Bank, UNESCO, UNDP, OAS, OECD, and national governments. She has served on special councils, drafted legislation, conducted extensive training programs, and organized joint in-country activities with China, Romania, Hungary, Estonia, Bulgaria, Japan, Thailand, the English-speaking Caribbean, Mexico, Morocco, Hong Kong, Mauritius, South Africa, and Bolivia. Back To Top |
| Abdul
Qader Ahad, Director Dr. Ahad is a physician with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a medical degree from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He conducted his medical residency at Pennsylvania State University and the Washington Hospital Center. Currently, Dr. Ahad practices surgery at the Washington Hospital Center. He has been member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Medical Association and the District of Columbia Medical Society. Although his nationality is American, he was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. Back To Top |
| Zoey
Askarzoi, Director Zoey Askarzoi, FINCA Middle East Program Analyst, is responsible for compiling and analyzing information on the programs within the region. She also supports policy project coordination for FINCA Afghanistan, Public Policy and Internal Policy. She previously provided policy assistance, coordinated meetings with agency staff members and prepared events in both the policy and business sector. Ms. Askarzoi also serves as the Committee Director for the Middle East Committee of the United Nations Association Young Professional for International Cooperation, where she coordinates events and panel discussions to foment cultural understanding, and promote awareness of the Greater Middle Eastern region. The purpose of the Middle East Committee is to create a dialogue between the rich cultures in the region, including religion, language, and traditions. Not to mention, the committee will identify issues critical to the region such as socio-economic disparities, population, disease and conflict, among others. Ms. Askarzoi holds a B.A. in philosophy, focused on east-west communication, from Mount St. Mary's College and is currently pursuing her masters in International Marketing from the University of Maryland. Back To Top |
Thomas
Stauffer, ex officio, President, American University of Afghanistan |
|
Copyright
2006 © American
University of Afghanistan Foundation |