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Arab American Pathbreakers

Pathbreakers of Arab America—Huda Zoghbi

This is the eighty-eighth in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series features personalities from various fields, including entertainment, business, sports, science, the arts, academia, journalism, and politics. Our eighty-eighth pathbreaker is Huda Zoghbi, a Lebanese-born American geneticist, clinician-scientist, and a physician specializing in pediatric neurology. Contributing writer John Mason shows how her research led her and others to the discovery of the genes and genetic mechanisms responsible for several devastating neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Rett syndrome, and autism. Huda is celebrated by many for her collegiality and for mentoring innumerable students and fellows.

Pathbreakers of Arab America—Elias Zerhouni

This is the eighty-third in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series features personalities from various fields, including entertainment, business, sports, science, the arts, academia, journalism, and politics. Our eighty-third pathbreaker, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, is an Algerian-born American scientist, radiologist, biomedical engineer, entrepreneur, and pharmaceutical industry executive who served as the 15th Director of the National Institutes of Health. As John Mason, contributing writer, describes, Zerhouni is an outside-of-the-box thinker and has contributed significantly to important health improvements and breakthroughs.

Pathbreakers of Arab America—Rana Dajani

This is the eightieth in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, arts, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our eightieth pathbreaker, Rana Dajani, is a Jordanian molecular biologist and tenured professor of biology and biotechnology at Hashemite University. She has expertise in epigenetics and biomarkers of trauma among refugees, and her research has impacted Jordan’s stem cell research ethics law. Importantly, as contributing writer John Mason underscores, Rana’s vision goes beyond science to include children’s and women’s rights and opportunities.

Celebrating Pathbreakers for National Arab American Heritage Month

By: Arwa Almasaari / Arab America Contributing Writer Dr. John Mason has launched a series celebrating Arab American pathbreakers across various fields, from entertainment and business to science, academia, and politics. This initiative highlights the rich diversity of Arab Americans—men and women from different ancestral backgrounds making an impact in a wide range of professions. … Continued

Pathbreakers of Arab America—May Rihani

This is the seventy-second of Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, arts, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our seventy-second pathbreaker, May Rihani, was born in Beirut to parents from Freike, Matn District, Lebanon. As contributing writer John Mason reports, she is an expert on girls’ and women’s education, working in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia to implement educational reform, particularly to improve girls’ education and family health. In 2016, May was awarded the prestigious position of director of the Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace at the University of Maryland and recently ran as a candidate for the 2022–2025 Lebanese presidential election.

How My Arab American Upbringing Prepared Me for Policing

By: Sarah Shendy / Arab America Contributing Writer Arab America contributing writer, Officer Sarah Shendy, shares how growing up in an Arab American home shaped her approach to policing. After joining the police academy, she quickly realized her passion for supporting the community. Grounded in the values of her upbringing, Officer Shendy leads with heart—relying … Continued

Pathbreakers of Arab America—Najee Mondalek

This is the fifty-seventh of Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our fifty-seventh pathbreaker is Najee Mondalek, a Lebanese American actor who founded AJYAL Theatrical group. Contributing writer, John Mason, describes how Mondalek has been named the Jerry Seinfeld of Arab-American culture for such roles as Im Hussein and such plays as “Arab and Broud.” The everyday lives of Arab Americans are the focus of AJYAL, including their mistakes and mishaps. Najee fell into the role of Im Hussein by accident, as we’ll see.

Pathbreakers of Arab America— Rana el Kaliouby

This is the fifty-seventh of Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our fifty-seventh pathbreaker is Dana el Kaliouby, an Egyptian American scientist who specializes in “affective computing.” She is a leader in the science of emotions, which brings emotional intelligence to technology. Contributing writer, John Mason, depicts El Kaliouby at the forefront of humanizing technology, one which helps us to connect with one another more effectively.

Pathbreakers of Arab America—Joseph Massad

This is the fifty-seventh of Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our fifty-seventh pathbreaker is Joseph Massad, a Palestinian American, and esteemed professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Modern Arab Politics, and Intellectual History at Columbia University. Contributing writer, John Mason, shares with the reader Massad’s strong pro-Palestinian perspective has become the object of criticism from many quarters, most of which derives from extreme pro-Israel supporters.

Pathbreakers of Arab America—John Zogby

This is the fifty-fifth of Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our fifty-fifth pathbreaker is John Zogby, an internationally known Arab American public opinion pollster, author, and public speaker. Founder of Zogby International polling, John is known for precisely calling several key American elections. He and his sons now operate John Zogby Strategies. John Mason, contributing writer, reports that while previously highly supportive of President Biden, Zogby has recently criticized the Biden Administration’s military forays into Iraq and Syria and its pro-Israel anti-Palestinian policy on the Hamas-Israel war.

Pathbreakers of Arab America—Casey Kasem

This is the forty-fifth of Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Contributing writer, John Mason, depicts our forty-fifth pathbreaker, Casey Kasem, born in 1932 in Detroit to Lebanese Druze parents. He was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter. Kasem created and hosted almost four decades of ‘American Top 40’ popular song countdown programs and provided character voices for 2,000 cartoon episodes and 10,000 commercials. His rich, velvet voice was immediately recognizable to those who grew up listening to Casey.

Pathbreakers of Arab America—Laura Nader

This is the thirtieth in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our thirtieth pathbreaker is Laura Nader, a famed Lebanese American anthropologist, and not quite incidentally, sister of a famed Lebanese American public interest advocate, Ralph Nader. As Arab America contributing writer John Mason, describes, not only did their father emigrate to the U.S. for political reasons, giving all of his children a strong sense of “the other,” but it was her younger brother, Ralph, who first recommended that Laura study anthropology at university. She has since become a champion of justice for oppressed peoples around the world.

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