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Birzeit University Inaugurates Graduate Studies Building 14 August 2001 The Naseeb Shaheen Building (For Graduate Studies) was officially inaugurated August 9th in the presence of Dr. Naseeb Shaheen. Dr. Shaheen, honorary member of the University's Board of Trustees, donated the funds for the construction of the Building, which was completed at the end of May 2001. Dr. Darwish Nazzal, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Birzeit University was unable to attend the inauguration due to the situation and the closure of the Ramallah-Birzeit Road. 
Dr. Shaheen, who was awarded the University's special plaque during the commencement ceremonies at Birzeit University last July, is originally from Ramallah, and currently a resident of the United States and professor of English Literature at Memphis University. He has written several books on William Shakespeare, which are widely used in research. During the inauguration he said that he was glad that he and his father and brothers before him have donated funds toward education in Palestine and especially at Birzeit University. Dr. Hanna Nasir, President of Birzeit University, introduced Dr. Shaheen and talked about his various contributions to the University and the different educational institutions in Palestine. The Naseeb Shaheen Building was originally designed to constitute three floors, but Dr. Shaheen insisted on adding another floor. According to Dr. Nasir, “this was an important addition as it has increased the potential benefit of the building to the University by enabling us to meet more of our spacing requirements for the upcoming year.” Each floor comprises 370 square meters making the total area of the building around 1500 sq. meters. The building will house the administrative offices of the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, several chairpersons of the different programs of the faculty of graduate studies, classrooms, meeting rooms, the Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute of International Studies as well as the Graduate Computational Science Program. In his closing remarks, Dr. Nasir said that the spirit of Birzeit University was for some to “donate, and others to implement and build.” He hopes that the students who graduate from the University will find good jobs, and one day donate to their educational institution. The building was designed by Thaher (Jamal) Consulting Engineering Offices in Ramallah, and the Mukawiloon Contracting Co. in Nablus implemented the construction of the building.
Birzeit University |