On Monday, June 2, 2025, Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Neurology at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) Dr. Samir Atweh hosted an event to inaugurate the Dr. Fuad Amin Sabra Neuroscience Conference Room. The event, attended by President Fadlo R. Khuri, the Sabra family, and senior administration from AUBMC and AUB was a warm gathering in honor of one of AUB's own, Dr. Fuad Amin Sabra (BS '38, MD '43) – the first practicing neurologist at AUB and in Lebanon.
Dr. Sabra was a pioneering neurologist in Lebanon and the broader Middle East. After earning his medical degree from AUB in 1943, Dr. Sabra pursued advanced training in neurology at Columbia University (1947-48). He returned to Beirut and joined the AUB faculty in 1948. As chair of Internal Medicine (1963), Dr. Sabra became the founding head of neurology – a role he held until his retirement in 1982. Dr. Sabra was instrumental in establishing neurology as a distinct specialty in Lebanon and founded the country's first Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory for electroencephalography (EEG). Founder and president of the Lebanese Society of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, he was also a founding member of the Lebanese Society for the Handicapped and of the World Federation of Neurology Rehabilitation Commission. Sabra received a number of prestigious honors and awards, among them the Order of the Cedars, Knight Rank, in 1962.
Dr. Samir Atweh reminisced about some of the times that he and Dr. Sabra crossed paths. He noted, for example, that he and Dr. Sabra were trained by the same scientist (Dr. Raymond Adams) at The Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard University. “Fast forward to 1983. Dr. Sabra had retired from administrative work but not before he had built the Division of Neurology to six faculty members. So, when I and Amin – Dr. Sabra's son who is also a neurologist – came back we became eight, half of them trained by Raymond Adams, a nucleus of a department – a dream Dr. Sabra held for so long." Dr. Atweh, who founded the neurology department as a separate entity from the Department of Internal Medicine in 2011, closed saying that “It was an honor to follow in his footsteps and make his dreams come true."
Dr. Karam Karam (MD '67), who was a student of Dr. Sabra, described him as a “unique phenomenon." He recalled the impact that Dr. Sabra had on him and his career. He said, “Today, and 50 years later, I am still touched by Dr. Sabra. I remember the days under his guidance. It is remarkable how one can still be affected by this teacher after such a long time – but that is who Dr. Sabra was."
In his heartfelt remarks, Dr. Amin Fuad Sabra (MD '76) spoke of the deep personal significance this gathering held for him, and reflected on his father's enduring connection to AUB. Dr. Amin Sabra said his father's “relationship with AUB goes back to the 1920s. AUB has been an integral part of his and our life. He joined the prep school – now known as International College (IC). His life and ours, my two brothers, George (BA '77) and Ramzi (BS '81, MD '85), and myself, were centered around AUB in many ways: education, concerts, sports events, AUB Beach, alumni club, and the list goes on. AUB was our classroom, playground, and workplace." He went on to describe his father as a humanist in the deepest sense, “a man who loved literature, history, science, and Arabic poetry, but above all, music. His passion for music was deeply felt by everyone who knew him," Dr. Amin Sabra remembered. In closing, he said that he hopes that this space will echo the “ideals he lived by: excellence, curiosity, compassion, and courage."
President Khuri opened his remarks with words of gratitude to the Sabra family. He said that “naming this conference room after Fuad Sabra means a great deal to me, and I wouldn't have missed this event for anything." Khuri remembered that when he became president he had “remarked to our deans that it troubles me that with the great history we have of Lebanese and Arabs at this institution, almost all of our major facilities are named for occidentals. My hope was to have more living history – people who had spent their careers here, and thus it is very meaningful for me and our community to have this conference room named after Fuad Sabra." Khuri also spoke about his father's close ties with the late Dr. Sabra. He also shed light on the type of physician he was, describing him as someone “who had the patient at the core of everything he did." President Khuri closed his remarks by quoting Dr. Sabra: “AUB is a way of life, an attitude, a spiritual state of mind that determines our identity." Khuri went on to say, “Nothing could come close to defining who Fuad Sabra was to this institution. An ethos of his is alive today in this room and at this institution."
