AUB Libraries Online Exhibits

Habib Kurani Collection

The Habib Kurani Collection contains around three linear feet of archival documents, including articles, addresses and reports on education in Lebanon and the Middle East. Some documents related to the AUB Summer Seminar on the Near East and to the Report prepared by AUB for Dr. Abdul-Rahman Kayyali, Minister of Public Instruction in Syria are also included. There are also some press clippings.The collection is of great value to researchers interested in the history of the region, the history of education and its development in the Arab world. It is also of interest to anthropologists, cultural theorists, educators and historians in general.  

Born in 1904, Dr. Habib Kurani received a B.A. 1927 and an M.A. 1928 from AUB. He then went on to receive a Ph.D.  in 1931 from Teachers College, Columbia University, USA. His long association with AUB began in 1922, when he joined the Preparatory Section (now IC): in 1924, he assumed the duties of Registrar of the University. He served as an educational advisor to several regional and international educational institutions in the Middle East and the United States. He is remembered by most as Chairman and Professor of the Department of Psychology and Education, where he served with distinction until his retirement in 1970.