American University in Cairo

About

The American University in Cairo (AUC; Arabic: الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, romanized: al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private liberal arts university in New Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs at undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, along with a continuing education program. It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in the United States and Egypt's National Authority for Quality Assurance and Assessment of Education.

The American University in Cairo was founded in 1919 by the American Mission in Egypt, a Protestant mission sponsored by the United Presbyterian Church of North America, as an English-language university and preparatory school. University founder Charles A. Watson wanted to establish a western institution for higher education. The preparatory school opened to 142 students on October 5, 1920, in Khairy Pasha Palace, which was built in the 1860s. The first diplomas issued were junior college-level certificates given to 20 students in 1923. There were disputes between Watson, who was interested in building the university's academic reputation, and United Presbyterian leaders in the United States who sought to return the university to its Christian roots. Four years later, Watson decided that the university could not afford to maintain its original religious ties and that its best hope was the promotion of good moral and ethical behavior. Originally limited to male students, the university enrolled its first female student in 1928. That same year, the university graduated its first class, with two Bachelor of Arts and one Bachelor of Sciences degrees awarded. In 1950, AUC added its first graduate programs to its ongoing Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Sciences, graduate diploma, and continuing education programs, and in 1951, phased out the preparatory school program. During the Six-Day War, AUC was seized by the Egyptian government and was placed under control by Egyptian administrators for the next seven years; most of its American faculty were forced to leave the country. Egypt stopped short of nationalizing the university, which was supported by money owed as repayment of loans made by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The government returned control to American administrators on June 12, 1974, coinciding with a visit to Cairo by U.S. president Richard Nixon. By the mid-1970s, the university offered a broad range of liberal arts and sciences programs. In the following years, the university added bachelors, masters, and diploma programs in engineering, management, computer science, journalism and mass communication and sciences programs, as well as establishing a number of research centers in strategic areas, including business, the social sciences, philanthropy and civic engagement, and science and technology. In the 1950s, the university also changed its name from The American University at Cairo, replacing "at" with "in." The American University in Cairo Press was established in 1960. By 2016, it was publishing up to 80 books annually. In 1978, the university established the Desert Development Center to promote sustainable development in Egypt's reclaimed desert areas. The Desert Development Center's legacy is being carried forward by the Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment. Faculty voted "no confidence" in university president Francis J. Ricciardone in February 2019. In a letter to the president, the faculty cited "low morale, complaints about his management style, grievances over contracts and accusations of illegal discrimination" with tensions further increasing when Ricciardone invited U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to give a speech at the university. On February 11, 2019, the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo reaffirmed its continued confidence and unqualified support for President Francis J. Ricciardone. In May 2019, it extended his tenure to June 2024. Ricciardone retired June 2021. The board of trustees announced their appointment of Ahmad S. Dallal as the university's 13th president on June 22, 2021. On March 1, 2025, the United States' Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced the termination of over $171 million in research grants from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the American University in Cairo. DOGE stated they saved the U.S. federal government $101,396,775 from wasteful spending by the American University in Cairo.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.