ABDELAL, Ahmed T. H.
Ahmed Tawfik Hassanein Abdelal died peacefully and with family, at the age of 83, at his home near Atlanta, Georgia, on April 11, 2024. Ahmed was born in Cairo, Egypt, on January 4, 1941. After graduating from Cairo University in 1960, he immigrated to the United States to continue his education at the University of California, Davis, from which he earned a PhD in Microbiology in 1967. After concluding postdoctoral studies at the Institute for Microbiology at the University of Gottingen, Germany, Ahmed joined the faculty of Georgia State University in the Department of Biology. At Georgia State, Ahmed flourished. He loved his research, his lab, and teaching.
Ahmed was passionate about leadership in the academy. At Georgia State Ahmed served as Chair of the Biology Department. From 1992 to 2002, Ahmed led the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Dean. During that time, Ahmed pursued the work of the university with a particular focus on internationalization. He believed deeply in cross-cultural and cross-national connection as a potential source of peace and understanding. Ahmed served as the founding director of the university's Middle East Center for Peace, Culture, and Development.
Ahmed served as Provost for Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts from 2002 to 2008. While there, he honed his distinctive approach to collaborative academic leadership. This approach was the subject of a case study by Harvard Institutes of Higher Education. Ahmed moved from Northeastern to become Provost at University of Massachusetts, Lowell in 2008. At both Northeastern and UMass Lowell, he embraced the possibility that internationalization would ensure that students, faculty, and staff embraced a common humanity. Ahmed built countless partnerships and exchanges with universities around the world. His deeply held belief in building global educational partnerships as a method for addressing larger problems was a model for many educational institutions.
Ahmed was predeceased by his wife, Mary Trahan; and is survived by his son, Rawi Abdelal, Rawi's wife, Traci Battle, and their two children, Alexander and Annabel; his daughter, Laila Abdelal McClay, and her son, Max, his son, Anthony Wilson, Anthony's wife, Marie Wilson, their children, Caleb, Kassidy and her husband, Jeremy; and Blake and his wife, Courtney, and their daughter, Addy; and Mary's sister, Caroline Abbey and her husband, John Abbey. Ahmed is also survived by family in Egypt, including his brother, Ayman; and sisters, Laila, Daad, and Noor.
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