Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha will visit the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Wednesday, Jan. 28 to discuss, "Syria-USA Relations: A Thaw or a False Start?" The portion of the program open to the public begins at 6:45 p.m. in McKenna Auditorium, with free seating on a first-come basis.
With more than 200 articles published in both Arabic and English, Ambassador Moustapha is a prolific writer. He is the co-author of the United Nations-sponsored Human Development Report in the Arab World and has authored, co-authored, or edited several books, including: The Echoes of Orpheus; Creativity out from the Windows of Hell; and Concurrent Engineering. In addition, Ambassador Moustapha has appeared on numerous U.S., British, Syrian, and Arab television news programs and has presented a number of public lectures in Arab and U.S. venues.
He also is one of the few ambassadors who blogswith recent posts touching on such topics as favorite Syrian artists, the history of the Arab-Israeli war, and his summer vacation.
Moustapha became Ambassador to the United States in March 2004. Prior to that, he was dean of the faculty of information technology at the University of Damascus, and secretary general of the Arab School on Science and Technology. He is co-founder of the Network of Syrian Scientists, Technologists and Innovators Abroad (NOSSTIA), and was an active consultant to several international and regional organizations on Science and Technology policies in the Middle East (UNDP, UNESCO, ESCWA, ALECSO).
He was also a member of the Syrian team responsible for drafting reform strategies for the ministries of Culture, Education, and Higher Education. Ambassador Moustapha holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Surrey, UK. His interests include globalization, cultural identities, social and economic impacts of the Internet, Syrian art and artists, and Western classical music.
Ambassador Moustapha's visit is hosted by Bassam Frangieh, professor of modern languages at CMC, and by the Athenaeum.