“Starsky and Hutch” was how Salim Chahine humorously referred to himself and his colleague Armond Manassian, who are both new assistant professors at the Sulieman Olayan School of Business. Coincidentally the two professors both began as full-timers this past September and also share an office in the Continuing Education Center (CEC). Chahine expressed enthusiasm at joining what he called “the challenging milieu at AUB.” His desire to contribute to the improvement of Lebanon and work to reverse the brain drain was what led him to leave France and return to his home country. After receiving his BS in financial management from Saint-Etienne University, Chahine went on to receive a postgraduate degree from Aix-Marseille III University, an MS in financial engineering from the Marseille Business School, and finally his PhD in business administration in 1998 from Aix-Marseille III University-France. Chahine then went on to obtain the International Teaching Program Certificate from New York University. Prior to joining AUB, Chahine taught at the Nantes School of Management and occupied the position of visiting professor at King’s College (the University of London), as well as at Spain’s EADA Business School, and St-Gallen University. Apart from his experiences in the world of academia, Chahinee worked as a financial market consultant in Tunisia and for the European Meridional Bank (BEMO). In line with the University’s support of research and publications, Chahinee has a number of articles published in international journals, among them the Journal of Multinational Management, International Review of Financial Analysis, Managerial Finance and Financial Markets, and Portfolio Management. He is currently conducting two research projects, one of which is on corporate governance and performance in the Lebanese banking system. Chahinee’s extensive work in the world of financing resulted in several awards among them the Excellence Medal for Distinguished Scholarship from the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. An inherent optimist, Chahine expressed contentment at being in this “international country” with his Japanese wife, a United Nations agent, and his son Adam. On the other side of the room, Armond Manassian, who is an accounting professor, described his experience at AUB as satisfactory “so far.” In spite of expressing some reservations regarding the performance of undergraduate students, Manassian was highly impressed with the English proficiency and motivation of the MBA students. Originally an Armenian-Iranian, Manassian is now a Canadian citizen. After acquiring his BS degree in computing adminstration and an MBA from La Sierra University in California, he went on to receive his PhD from the University of Calgary, Canada, in 2000. In his first year at AUB, Manassian served as coordinator of the undergraduate course, financial Accounting and gave a class in accounting. He also gave two survey courses on the MBA level, dealing with profit-planning, managerial, and financial accounting. His participation in the EMBA program, a 44-credit program targeted at senior executives, is also worth noting and was described by Manassian as a very rewarding experience. Unfortunately and contrasting with his comfortable life during his past six years in Lebanon, Manassian and his wife were severly injured by the February 14 blast that killed former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and 20 other civilians. What began as a peaceful Valentine’s Day lunch at the Phoenicia Hotel turned out to be a nightmare that resulted in around 70 stitches between the both of them. The Manassians are the parents of two young children, Kristelle and Dylan, aged 10 and 8 respectively.
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