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Summertime in New York is always filled with action, and this year
was no exception. After the frenetic activities associated with moving
into new office space, Janet Frank and I settled into our exciting, new
routine. Janet, ICNY Office Manager, re-organized her daily tasks to
include a great deal of time assisting me with concentrated devel-
opment work. I, in turn, began traveling again, first to California fol-
lowed by Houston, Texas and then to Boston.
In July, I had the great pleasure of visiting
Dr. Ray Irani
,’50, Chairman
and CEO of Occidental Petroleum, in his beautiful office in LosAngeles.
Over a lovely lunch with a scenic view of Westwood Village, Dr. Irani
talked about his strong emotional ties to IC and spoke wistfully about
the school friends with whom he remains in contact. Our conversation
turned to his involvement with the Lebanese American Foundation
(LAF), helping them to launch the “House of Lebanon” (www.house-
oflebanon.com) that will host the first Lebanese Cultural and
Community Center in the Los Angeles area.. Following our lunch
together, Dr. Irani established the Ray R. Irani Merit Scholarship which
will fully fund the yearly tuition of one IC student. (Please see page 7).
My Los Angeles visit included a great dinner with
Sami Badre
‘57,
and a call on
Mohamed Ahmar
'80, and his wife,
Hania Diab
’92, at
their magnificent home in Beverly Hills. Mohamed is President of ICG
Computer Graphics, a nationwide distributor of computer imaging and
graphics peripherals, and a generous supporter of IC. He is also
actively involved in various local enterprises including working closely
with Dr. Irani for the House of Lebanon on the Marketing Committee.
I moved on to
San Francisco
where I had the opportunity to speak
with
Kamal Obeid
’73, an IC enthusiast, and dine with warm and
generous IC supporters,
Ralph Anavy
‘58, and his wife Regina. In
1999, Ralph and his brother,
Daniel
'62, established the Albert Anavy
Scholarship Fund in the name of their father, Albert, who taught at IC
for over 30 years. My West Coast visit concluded with a get-together
with
Dr. Ilyas Iliya
'71, a long time IC devotee and prominent kidney
specialist in San Francisco.
In early October, I traveled to
Houston
, Texas. My visit began with
a dinner with a few alumni including
Oussama Barbar
('80), a great
friend and generous IC donor who set up the Issam Fares
Appreciation Scholarship Fund two years ago. Sam, as he is known
to his friends, and his wife, Lena, own Environmental Consulting
Services, an environmental and geotechnical engineering firm based
in Houston with a branch office in Dallas. Sam brought along anoth-
er IC alum,
Souheil (Sean) Ghaoui
’86, and his wife, Dr. Sarah
Shereen Ghaoui, a professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas.
Our gathering brought back many wonderful memories and they
spent the evening regaling me with their stories.
Still in Houston, after speaking with
Hani Qattan
’77, I caught up
with
Omar Sawwaf
’73 a generous and dedicated alum, in his office
on elegant San Felipe Street. We met again later that day with his
wife, Sima, at the home of
Vreij Kolandjian
’77, and his wife,
Christine, where over a wonderful dinner Omar and Vreij reminisced
about their IC school days and recent IC events.
In November I visited
Boston
MA, famous for the great number of
IC doctor-alums including
Amin Sabra
’69,
Kareem Fawwaz
‘59,
Usama Hamdan
’71, and
Salah Salman
’54, all of whom I had the
pleasure to see again. I also caught up with
Fifi Reed
(photo), a
delightful, energetic and generous IC supporter who taught at IC’s
Elementary School for ten years (1979-1989) and is married to
Frank
Reed
, IC’s Director of Elementary Education from 1979-1983. Fifi and
Frank subsequently settled in Boston and she is helping me to coordi-
nate the New England IC Dinner which will take place in February.
Still in Boston, I was thrilled to meet up with a couple of long-
standing IC friends who came to Beirut as Teaching Fellows in the
60’s, namely
Anthony Jones
, a member of the pioneer group of IC
Teaching Fellows recruited by then-President
Thomas Schuller
in
1963; and
Larry Lucchino
(pictured above), who taught English
and History as a Fellow in 1968. Larry, President of the Boston Red
Sox baseball team, has become one of the best-known sports fig-
ures in the US.
We hope to meet many alumni at the upcoming US events: On
February 6
, IC will host a dinner in Boston at
MIT Endicott House
welcoming
President Arthur Charles
. Then in New York City on
February 12
, Dr. Charles and the IC Board of Trustees will welcome
Waleed Howrani
’67, pianist extraordinaire, at a performance and
reception that will take place opposite Carnegie Hall at
Columbia
Artist’s CAMI Hall
. For information, please email the New York office
at icny@aol.com, or telephone at 212 529 3005. See you there!
IC News from Union Square -
New York City
Kathy Brahimi with Larry
Lucchino, President/CEO of
the Boston Red Sox baseball
team and IC Teaching Fellow,
1968, at Fenway Park,
Boston.
Fifi Reed, IC Elementary Teacher 1979-1989, and Kathy Brahimi in Boston