Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Professor Gabi Baramki was born in Jerusalem on November 3, 1929. He joined Birzeit Mixed School in 1934, and graduated from it in 1946. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from the American University of Beirut in chemistry with distinction in 1949, and his doctorate in 1953. He returned to Birzeit and contributed to the establishment of Birzeit Middle College as its dean, and began teaching first-year college-level courses.
He worked as a professor and administrator for four years until he obtained a scholarship to study for a doctorate in organic chemistry at McGill University in Canada between the years 1957-1959.
He returned and contributed once again to the development of Birzeit College and keeping pace with it in its relentless pursuit of becoming a university. These efforts were crowned with success, and in 1972 it was transformed into a university. Bachelor's programs in Arts and Sciences were launched.
The Israeli occupation authorities deported the university’s president, Dr. Hanna Nasser, in 1974. Baramki assumed the acting presidency of the university until 1993. The university developed significantly during that period to become the leading university in Palestine. In 1994 he was selected to be a Special Advisor to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education; At the same time, Secretary General of the Higher Education Council.
Over seven decades, Professor Baramki worked as a professor and director of the school, dean of the middle college, lecturer when it was transformed into a university, acting president, member of the Board of Trustees, and a founding member of the Council of Higher Education and its president for several years. Vice-Chairman of the Scientific Research Council, and the first Chairman of the Quality Improvement Fund “ QIF ” during his 12-year tenure as a consultant; He also served as Vice President of the Council of Higher Education; He also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel ( PACBI ). And a founding member of the Palestinian-European Academic Cooperation Program in Education (PEACE ), a joint program between Palestinian universities and more than 40 European universities.
He wrote a book in 2009, published by Pluto Press - London, entitled “Peaceful Resistance - Building a Palestinian University Under Occupation,” presented to him (he wrote his introduction) by former US President Jimmy Carter.
He was a founding and active member of the Jerusalem Choir since 1955; Locally, he was an active member of the Board of Trustees of the Muwatin Foundation (the Palestinian Foundation for the Study of Democracy), the Board of Trustees of Birzeit University, and the Advisory Board of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.
Baramki was active in the field of the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel Committee, and was named honorary president of the “Palestinian Consumer Protection Association” in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, unanimously among the members of the association’s founding body. He was also active in activities and campaigns to encourage Palestinian products and economic monitoring campaigns. Baramki is considered one of the pioneers of building and supporting national institutions, the academic boycott of Israel, and encouraging the national product.
In 1993, the French Ministry of Higher Education awarded him the Chevalier de l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur . In recognition of his distinguished contributions to education.
After his death on August 30, 2012, President Mahmoud Abbas awarded him the “Order of Merit and Distinction.” “In appreciation of his distinguished academic role in raising the status of higher education and contributing to building the first university in Palestine, and in appreciation of his giving and distinguished national contributions.” Birzeit University also established a professorship in chemistry under the name “Dr. Gabi Baramki Chair,” and announced the “Baramki Excellence Award” for graduates.
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