Arab Museum Library Dedication Honors Area Philanthropist & Community Leader
The Arab American National Museum (AANM), a national initiative of ACCESS, will introduce the Russell J. Ebeid Library & Resource Center (L&RC) during a dedication ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. This naming of the AANM’s library recognizes Ebeid’s longtime support of the L&RC, the Museum and ACCESS, and his role as a visionary community leader and philanthropist.
“We chose to have this event on National Philanthropy Day – November 15 – because we are honoring a truly inspirational philanthropist,” says Maha Freij, deputy executive director and CFO at ACCESS, the Dearborn-based human services agency that is the AANM’s parent organization.
“Russ is the rare individual who is not only capable and dedicated to achieving a goal, but also personally invested in working toward positive change. When he gets involved in something he believes in, he lends it much more than his support – he provides strategic vision and steadfast commitment,” Freij continues.
“I have seen this with his scholarship program housed at the Center for Arab American Philanthropy – a project of ACCESS – which supports the educational endeavors of students of color at Kettering University in Flint. I have also seen it with the recently-established ProMedica Ebeid Institute for Population Health, which addresses poverty as a public health issue.”
About the Russell J. Ebeid Library & Resource Center
The Russell J. Ebeid Library & Resource Center (L&RC) is an integral part of the Arab American National Museum’s educational outreach efforts. Comprised of a wide variety of hard-copy and web-based resources, it is the nation’s single-largest collection of research materials by and about Arab Americans.
The Ebeid L&RC’s holdings consist of digital and physical assets, including but not limited to oral histories, photographs, artifacts, printed materials, such as newspapers and books and other items that document and preserve the experiences and contributions of both well-known and mainstream Arab Americans of diverse cultural and religious heritage. Students, researchers and authors regularly consult the collections, or seek research assistance.
The Ebeid L&RC is also home to the Museum’s Community History Studio, where Arab Americans can preserve their family photos, artifacts and stories in a digital scrapbook for themselves and for inclusion in the AANM collections. It helps build the AANM’s holdings; empowers Arab Americans to fill in the gaps in information about their collective history; and makes this content easily accessible to students, researchers and the general public.
Arab American writers, poets and academics are regularly featured in library-based public programs, such as the annual national Arab American Book Award program, the only literary competition in the country to spotlight books by and about Arab Americans.
About Russell J. Ebeid
When he retired in 2011, completing a tenure of more than 40 years, Russell J. Ebeid was board chairman emeritus at Guardian Industries Corp. in Auburn Hills, Mich., and president of its Glass Group. As such, he was responsible for the company’s worldwide sales, marketing, and manufacturing activities that are performed by over 19,000 people employed in 24 countries on five continents. Guardian Industries is the third-largest flat glass producer in the world through its 83 facilities with annual sales approaching $6 billion dollars. Prior to joining Guardian in 1970, Ebeid was employed at General Motors.
A Lebanese American, Russell Ebeid grew up in Southwest Detroit. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1962 from Kettering University (known then as General Motors Institute), a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering in 1968 from Detroit’s Wayne State University, and has received two Honorary Doctor degrees in Management and Public Service. He was named the National Arab American Business Man of the Year in 2003 and entered the Halls of Fame at Wayne State University and the National Commission for Cooperative Education. In 2010, he was recognized as the Trader of the Year for his work in promoting international trade. Recently, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
In recognition of his philanthropic contributions to the Ebeid Hospice Residence, Ebeid Student Center, Ebeid Educational Hall, and Ebeid Athletic Center at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio, and the Ebeid Family Scholarship Fund for disadvantaged Arab American students to attend his alma mater, Kettering University, in Flint, Mich., he was awarded the “Making an Impact Award” by ACCESS in 2008. To honor his parents, he provides scholarships to Lebanese students in their ancestral home. He was the lead sponsor of an Emmy-winning documentary titled Our Arab American Story and the co-producer of a medical film titled Ageing of Men.
Today, Ebeid owns the Fairlane Club in Dearborn. He serves as a trustee for ProMedica Health Systems and Lourdes University. He has served as a director of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan – an educational curriculum designed to teach and promote free market principles to the former socialist and emerging economies of third-world countries of the world.
He is a longstanding supporter and member of the National Advisory Board of the Arab American National Museum and the Center for Arab American Philanthropy (CAAP), another national initiative of ACCESS. Through his scholarship program housed at CAAP, he supports the educational endeavors of students of color at Kettering University in Flint, Mich. and exemplifies the Center’s mission of strategic giving in the Arab American community.