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Hassan Diab

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For the Canadian sociologist who was accused of involvement in a Paris synagogue bombing, see Hassan Diab (sociologist).
Hassan Diab
حَسَّان دِيَاب
Diab in 2020
Prime Minister of Lebanon
In office
21 January 2020 – 10 September 2021
PresidentMichel Aoun
DeputyZeina Akar
Preceded bySaad Hariri
Succeeded byNajib Mikati
Minister of Education and Higher Education
In office
13 June 2011 – 15 February 2014
PresidentMichel Suleiman
Prime MinisterNajib Mikati
Preceded byHasan Mneimneh
Succeeded byElias Abou Saab
Personal details
Born (1959-06-01) 1 June 1959 (age 65)
Beirut, Lebanon
SpouseNuwar Mawlawi
Children3
Alma mater
Websitehassandiab.com

Hassan Diab (Template:Lang-ar; born 1 June 1959) is a Lebanese academic, engineer and politician who served as the 37th prime minister of Lebanon from 21 January 2020 to 10 September 2021. He was appointed by President Michel Aoun in 2019 to succeed Saad Hariri as prime minister.[1][2] He submitted his resignation on 10 August 2020 in wake of the explosion in Beirut and served as caretaker prime minister until Najib Mikati formed a new government on 10 September 2021. Prior to his premiership, he served as the minister of education from June 2011 to February 2014 under President Michel Suleiman.

Early life and education

Diab was born in Beirut on 1 June 1959.[3] He has a bachelor of science degree in communications engineering, which he received from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1981.[4][5] Then he obtained a master's degree in systems engineering from the University of Surrey in 1982,[4] and a PhD in computer engineering from the University of Bath in 1985.[5]

Academic career

Diab was a career academic, joining the American University of Beirut (AUB) as an electrical engineering professor in 1985.[3] He has published over 150 articles and papers in scientific journals and scientific conferences.[3] He called himself an advocate for educational reform in Lebanon and authored books on the topic.[6] He also served as vice president for regional external programs at the AUB from October 2006 to June 2011.[7]

On 13 June 2011, Diab was appointed minister of education and higher education as part of Najib Mikati's cabinet, replacing Hasan Mneimneh in the post. Diab's term ended on 15 February 2014,[8] and Elias Abu Saab succeeded him in the post.

Premiership

See also: Cabinet of Hassan Diab

Diab was designated as the next prime minister succeeding Saad Hariri on 19 December 2019, amidst the protests that had caused Hariri's resignation. Diab's candidacy won the support of 69 members out of 128 of the Lebanese parliament, and his support came from parties that co-form the March 8 Alliance,[9] namely the Hezbollah-allied parliamentary blocs, but did not receive the backing of parties from his own Sunni community.[6]

Diab is an independent, not vocally supporting any political group, and had a low public profile at the time of his appointment.[6]

Lebanon's new government was formed on 21 January 2020 after Diab and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met with President Michel Aoun.[10][11] Diab then announced the new twenty-member cabinet made up of technocrats reporting that they would work on new election law, seeking an independent judiciary and the return of looted public funds.[10] During the first session of the new cabinet, Diab announced that his first official visits would be to countries "in the Arab region, especially the Gulf".[12] He said nothing about abiding by the reforms promised by Hariri and chose to maintain the ministry of information, which Hariri had promised to abolish.[13] On 3 February, Diab signed the state budget for 2020, reducing spending by $700 million[14][15] and on 6 February the cabinet approved a financial rescue plan to present to the parliament.[16]

On 7 March 2020, Diab announced Lebanon would default on a sovereign debt for the first time in its history.[17]

On 10 August 2020, Diab resigned in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion due to mounting political pressure and anger at the Lebanese government for their failure to prevent the disaster, exacerbated by existing political tensions and upheavals within the country.[18] He requested President Aoun to call for early parliamentary elections.

Biodata

Professor Diab is a Lebanese academic, professor, engineer, executive, and politician with over 33 years in academia including almost 20 years in executive roles leading organizations across government, academic, and non-profit sectors. He served as the 26th President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon and was the first Prime Minister (PM) in Lebanese, and probably the region’s, history to form a cabinet with 30% female ministers (6 out of 20). He took on a Herculean task by serving as Prime Minister (19 Dec 2019 - 10 Sept 2021) during the worst crisis period in Lebanese history and managed to pass many decrees and laws on anti-corruption. His technocrat cabinet, an exception in Lebanese politics and the closest to the specification of a technocrat cabinet in the history of Lebanon, approved for the first time in Lebanese history forensic audit on the central bank as well as the first National Reform Plan to address the economic, financial and social problems resulting from three decades of mismanagement. A plan which was commended by many including the UN, EU, World Bank, and the IMF. He strongly believes effective leadership means having moral authority rather than formal authority and that leadership is about creating leaders not followers.


On 13 June 2011, he was appointed as Minister of the Ministry of Education & Higher Education (MEHE) in the Lebanese Cabinet to take over the largest ministry in Lebanon. He was a technocrat minister which was an anomaly in Lebanese politics. Professor Diab was the 70th minister during 2011-2014 at a time when Lebanon was celebrating its 70th anniversary (2013) since independence (1943). One of the very few, if not the only one, out of the 70 ministers that assumed this position that was a technocrat minister who was also a professor & Vice President from a top university (American University of Beirut) in the MENA region (according to QS 2018 results). This allowed him to put partisan politics aside and practice national politics that fulfilled many achievements for the benefit of the education sector in the country. During his term an unprecedented number of accomplishments were realized including a new Higher Education (HE) law to replace a 40-year old one. He also passed the Community Service decree for the first time, which required high school students to serve 60 hours of community service, creating hope through promoting the culture of volunteerism. Additionally, after two and a half years of implementing reforms, the 2013 World Economic Forum report (p. 229), gave Lebanon the following ranking in HE (out of 144 countries): (i) Quality of Management Schools ranked 13th, (ii) Quality of Education ranked 10th, and (iii) Quality of Math and Science education ranked 4th which was only preceded by Singapore, Finland, and Belgium.


He is an advocate for educational reform in Lebanon and authored books on the topic. His passion is in empowering youth and education as exemplified in many of his keynote speeches as well as an interview with Rt. Hon. Keith Vaz on Lyca Radio, London, broadcast on January 30, 2022 on “Talking Points”. He served as Vice President (Oct 2006 - Jan 2020) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and a Professor of Computer Engineering (1985-2020) at the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering & Architecture, with 15 years of executive administrative and leadership experience. As VP, he signed and led around 80 projects in 20 countries per year. He was the youngest (at 30) to serve as AUB Senator for six years, and one of the youngest in AUB’s 155-year history to be promoted, at the age of 37, to the rank of full Professor. Moreover, he has over 150 publications in internationally refereed journals & conferences. He is a registered Chartered Engineer in the Engineering Council, UK, and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), UK. At 35, he was Fellow at the Institute of Engineers, Australia with only 6.6% of its members in this grade; and Fellow of IET at the age of 42, with only 6.6% of the 150,000 members holding this grade at the time and an average age of 66. His cross-sector experience makes him a valuable advisor to corporations.


Professor Diab was Founding President of Dhofar University (DU) and Founding Dean of the School of Engineering at DU (2004-06), Sultanate of Oman. He was the youngest to become university president in Oman at 44. Moreover, DU was the first private university in Oman to receive institutional accreditation from the Omani Accreditation Council. On 21 September 2022, he received the Lebanese Order of Merit: Grand Cordon Grade from the Lebanese President. He accumulated over 30 national/international awards and honors, and was invited for inclusion in over 40 international biographies with over 100 citations including Who’s Who in the World, and Who’s Who in Science & Engineering. He was invited to the “2nd Biennial Festival of Thinkers,” Abu Dhabi, as one of 90 World Thinkers together with 20 NOBEL Prize Laureates back in October 2007. He is Founder and President of the Rifca Taji Foundation Charity NGO which has three pillars: Women Empowerment, Community Service, and Education. He served on many boards including Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, Social Welfare Institutions, Academy for Cultural Diplomacy, and the Southern New Hampshire University’s Global Education Movement (GEM). His career reflects a demonstrated track record in leading large-scale organizations, mitigating risk through effective change management, developing strategic partnerships, managing projects in over 30 countries, and navigating crisis through strong communications.[19]

Personal life

Diab is married to Nuwar Mawlawi and has three children.[6] He is a Sunni Muslim.[20]


Selected publications

  • H. B. Diab; I. Demashkieh (1991). "A computer-aided teaching package for microprocessor systems education". IEEE Transactions on Education. 34 (2): 179–183. Bibcode:1991ITEdu..34..179D. doi:10.1109/13.81598.
  • J. J. Saade; H. B. Diab (2000). "Defuzzification techniques for fuzzy controllers". IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part B (Cybernetics). 30 (1). IEEE: 223–229. doi:10.1109/3477.826965. PMID 18244747.
  • Issam Damaj; Hassan Diab (2003). "Performance analysis of linear algebraic functions using reconfigurable computing". The Journal of Supercomputing. 24 (1): 91–107. arXiv:1904.08233. doi:10.1023/A:1020993510939. S2CID 29082745.
  • Hassan Diab (2003). "Standardization Related to Arabic Language Use in ICT" (Document). United Nations.
  • H. B. Diab; Albert Y. Zomaya (2005). Dependable Computing Systems: Paradigms, Performance Issues, and Applications (PDF). Wiley. S2CID 53833099. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  • Ghazi Ghaith; Hassan Diab (2008). "Determinants of EFL achievement among Arab college-bound learners". Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues. 1 (4): 278–286. doi:10.1108/17537980810929993.
  • Ghada Awada; Hassan Diab (2016). "Lebanon's 2011 ICT education reform strategy and action plan: Curriculum success or abeyance". Cogent Education. 3 (1). doi:10.1080/2331186x.2016.1245086.
  • Ghada Awada; Hassan B. Diab (2018). "The Effect of Google Earth and Wiki Models on Oral Presentation Skills of University EFL Learners". International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 30 (1): 36–46.

References

  1. ^ "University professor nominated to be Lebanese PM". 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  2. ^ "Diab nominated as PM with 69 votes". Daily Star. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Raya Shartouni (20 December 2019). "Profile - Hassan Diab Lebanon's new premier". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 6 February 2020. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  4. ^ a b "Biography". Official Website. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Our People". American University of Beirut. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d "Who is Hassan Diab, Lebanon's next prime minister?". The National. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  7. ^ Wassim Mroueh (22 June 2011). "New education minister eschews political spats". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  8. ^ "Fresh hopes for Lebanon cabinet formation". Al Arabiya. 15 February 2014. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  9. ^ Hubbard, Ben; Saad, Hwaida (19 December 2019). "Lebanon, Mired in Crises, Turns to a Professor as Prime Minister". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  10. ^ a b Mahmut Geldi (22 January 2020). "Lebanon forms new government led by Hassan Diab". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Lebanon unveils new government led by PM Hassan Diab". Daily Sabah. 21 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  12. ^ Hussein Yassine (30 January 2020). "Hassan Diab's First Official Trip Will Be to the Arab Countries". The961. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  13. ^ Sami Moubayed (28 January 2020). "All eyes on PM Hassan Diab and Lebanon's deadlock". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Prime Minister Hassan Diab signs 2020 state budget, referring it to presidency". The Daily Star. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Lebanon PM signs 2020 state budget with $700m spending cuts". Middle East Monitor. 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Lebanon cabinet approves financial rescue plan". Reuters. 6 February 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  17. ^ "For the first time, Lebanon defaults on its debts". The Economist. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab to submit resignation following Beirut blast". The National. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Lebanon blast investigator charges former PM, top public prosecutor". ABC News. 24 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Roadblocks across Lebanon as anger rises over Diab pick as PM". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.

1. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."University professor nominated to be Lebanese PM". 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.Error! Filename not specified. 2. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."Diab nominated as PM with 69 votes". Daily Star. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2019.Error! Filename not specified. 3. 1 2 3 Error! Filename not specified.Raya Shartouni (20 December 2019). "Profile - Hassan Diab Lebanon's new premier". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 4. 1 2 Error! Filename not specified."Biography". Official Website. Retrieved 31 January 2013.Error! Filename not specified. 5. 1 2 Error! Filename not specified."Our People". American University of Beirut. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2013.Error! Filename not specified. 6. 1 2 3 4 Error! Filename not specified."Who is Hassan Diab, Lebanon's next prime minister?". The National. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 7. ↑ Error! Filename not specified.Wassim Mroueh (22 June 2011). "New education minister eschews political spats". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2012.Error! Filename not specified. 8. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."Fresh hopes for Lebanon cabinet formation". Al Arabiya. 15 February 2014. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.Error! Filename not specified. 9. ↑ Error! Filename not specified.Hubbard, Ben; Saad, Hwaida (19 December 2019). "Lebanon, Mired in Crises, Turns to a Professor as Prime Minister". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2019.Error! Filename not specified. 10. 1 2 Error! Filename not specified.Mahmut Geldi (22 January 2020). "Lebanon forms new government led by Hassan Diab". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 11. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."Lebanon unveils new government led by PM Hassan Diab". Daily Sabah. 21 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 12. ↑ Error! Filename not specified.Hussein Yassine (30 January 2020). "Hassan Diab's First Official Trip Will Be to the Arab Countries". The961. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 13. ↑ Error! Filename not specified.Sami Moubayed (28 January 2020). "All eyes on PM Hassan Diab and Lebanon's deadlock". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 14. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."Prime Minister Hassan Diab signs 2020 state budget, referring it to presidency". The Daily Star. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 15. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."Lebanon PM signs 2020 state budget with $700m spending cuts". Middle East Monitor. 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 16. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."Lebanon cabinet approves financial rescue plan". Reuters. 6 February 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 17. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."For the first time, Lebanon defaults on its debts". The Economist. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 18. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab to submit resignation following Beirut blast". The National. Retrieved 10 August 2020.Error! Filename not specified. 19. ↑ Error! Filename not specified.Biodata..Error! Filename not specified. 20. ↑ Error! Filename not specified."Roadblocks across Lebanon as anger rises over Diab pick as PM". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.Error! Filename not specified.


Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Lebanon
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
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