The Arab American University family, represented by the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Yousef Asfour, the members of the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees, Dr. Magdi Al-Khaldi, the members of the Board of Trustees, the President of the University, Professor Dr. Ali Zedan Abu Zuhri, the University’s Council of Deans, members of the academic and administrative staff, and the University’s students pass warmest congratulations to Dr. Samah Abu Aoun Hamad on her appointment as Minister of Social Development.
Dr. Samah Abu Aoun obtained the Ph.D.in Business Administration from the University of Northampton in Britain, where her research focused on technological entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa and venture capitalists’ assessment of the human capital factors of startup companies. Dr. Abu Aoun obtained the Master’s degree in Business Administration from the British University of Liverpool, and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Technology in Baghdad.
As of 2008 until recent time, Dr. Abu Aoun Hamad directed the Palestinian Telecommunications Group Foundation for Development, and achieved many distinguished programs targeting community and economic development, the education sector, youth empowerment, entrepreneurship, and innovation. As an executive director with experience in leading social and economic development institutions in Palestine, she enjoyed creating change, development, and implementing many fruitful and valuable programs, such as the Code for Palestine program, which aims to empower Palestinian youth in the field of programming as well as analytical and critical thinking in cooperation with students at Stanford University in California.
Dr. Abu Aoun Hamad was responsible for establishing the Paltel Innovation Center, the Hope Fund for Gaza, the Communications Scholarship Program, and many other projects. During her career, Dr. Abu Aoun worked with the Municipal Development and Lending Fund as Director of Institutional Building and served as an advisor to the Minister of Local Government between 2003 and 2008, where she helped implement the first local elections and contributed to the implementation of the World Bank project to manage the Danish grant to local authorities.
Dr. Samah Abu Aoun served on many boards of directors of companies as well as professional institutions, including a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab American University Palestine, a member of the Board of Directors of the Amar Group, the investment sector of the Palestine Investment Fund, a member of the Board of Directors of Masader Company, one of the companies of the Palestine Investment Fund, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Businesswomen’s Forum, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Rawabi English Academy and BiT Academy.
Dr. Abu Aoun Hamad worked as a founding partner in the Technology and Education Company, Peer to Peer. It is a Palestinian company working in the field of educational technology, registered in the state of Delaware under the name Hessa Edu. It is also an investor in the Jordanian company Khabarati, which provides a service connecting professional experts with project owners through a specialized application.
Dr. Abu Aoun Hamad has a long track record in the field of scientific research, through participating and publishing many research papers in engineering, management, corporate social responsibility, grants, and entrepreneurship. She focuses on creating an additional impact on the entrepreneurship and youth empowerment system by promoting various initiatives, such as establishing the first Palestinian individual investor network, in addition to playing an advisory role for international and local organizations.