Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Antoine Zahlan (May 15, 1928 – September 1, 2020) was a Palestinian -Lebanese physicist and historian of the Arab scientific movement in Egypt and the Arab world in the 20th century. He is also a futurist . He earned his PhD in physics from Syracuse University in the United States. Antoine Zahlan died on September 1, 2020 in Beirut at the age of 92.
Origin
Professor Antoine Zahlan was born in Haifa in 1928 to Benjamin and Marie Khoury. He studied at the Frere School in Haifa and then moved to continue his education at Terra Sancta College in Jerusalem for five years. Due to the Nakba War in 1948, he and his family were forced to seek refuge in Lebanon, where they rented a house in the city of Aley. There , he received a scholarship that enabled him to enter the American University of Beirut, Department of Science, in 1951. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Physics and in 1952 he obtained a Master's degree in the same specialization. In 1956, he obtained a PhD from Syracuse University in New York and returned to work as a lecturer and head of the Physics Department at the Faculty of Science at the American University of Beirut between 1956 and 1969.
After the June War, he and his comrades Walid Khalidi and Burhan Dajani proposed to King Hussein of Jordan the establishment of the Royal Scientific Society to address the scientific gap between the West and the Arabs. Zahlan was its CEO. The three colleagues withdrew from the society after the events of Black September in 1973, which broke out between the Palestinian resistance and Jordan. In 1973, the three took the initiative with their friend, businessman Hassib Sabbagh, to establish the Arab Projects and Development Foundation ( APD ), which had the same goals as the society in Amman. However , the society’s work stopped in 1976. Between 1976 and 1978, he worked as a visiting lecturer at Stanford, North Carolina-Campbell Hill (USA), the University of Sussex , and the International Development Research Center . He also worked as a consultant for several international projects and institutions.
Positions
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Arab Unity Studies .
Visiting Professor at several Western Universities ( Stanford , North Carolina , Chapel Hill, and Essex), and Visiting Professor at the International Development Research Center (Canada). He has numerous publications in Arabic and English in the fields of human sciences, technology, education, and teaching.
Professor and Head of the Physics Department at the American University of Beirut 1956-1976.
He established the Royal Scientific Society in Amman in 1969 and was appointed its first director (1969-1970).
Former President of the Arab Physical Society, he organized the first conference of Arab immigrant minds, which was held in Bloudan, Syria in 1970.
Founding member of the Arab Scientific Community Organization in Qatar in 2010.
Works
His publications, in Arabic and English, in the fields of science and technology are too numerous to count in this introduction. They are a collection of 25 books and hundreds of articles and scientific research published in the Arab world, Western universities, and international institutions. His last book was published in 1999 by the Center for Arab Unity Studies , entitled “Arabs and the Challenges of Science and Technology: Progress without Change.” As for his articles between 1999 and 2007, they are more than 25 articles and academic research.
Most important works:
Books
Science and Higher Education in Israel , translated by Muhammad Salih Al-Alam - Dar Al-Hilal in cooperation with the Institute for Palestine Studies , 1970.
Science and Science Policy in the Arab World - Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1979.
The Technological Dimension of Arab Unity - Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1985.
Arabs, Science and Technology - Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1988.
Reconstruction of Palestine: Issues, Options, Policies, Strategies - Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1997.
Arabs and the Challenges of Science and Technology: Progress without Change - Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1999.
Science and Sovereignty. Expectations and Potential in Arab Countries - Center for Arab Unity Studies, 2012.
Technological illiteracy and its impact on Arab development - Center for Arab Unity Studies, 2013.
Reforming the Construction Industry in Arab Countries - Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies , 2013.
Source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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