Maroun Semaan with his wife, Tania, a member of the AMIDEAST Lebanon Advisory Board at Balamand University
Lebanese philanthropist, entrepreneur to be honored at AMIDEAST Award Gala, October 14, 2017, in Beverly Hills, California
WASHINGTON, BEIRUT—Lebanese philanthropist and entrepreneur Maroun Semaan will be posthumously honored for his significant contributions to the advancement of education at the AMIDEAST Award Gala in Beverly Hills on October 14. Semaan is the first recipient of the AMIDEAST Education Hero Award, an honor established by AMIDEAST to recognize individuals for their exemplary dedication to improving education in Lebanon.
Semaan believed deeply in the power of education to transform lives and prepare citizens to be effective leaders. Education was key to his own success. Growing up in modest circumstances, the sixth of seven children in a middle-class family from a village in the south of Lebanon, he was motivated by the value his parents placed on education. He showed early signs of promise in the public school he attended and ranked first in the whole of Lebanon on the high school baccalaureate government exam. With the help of a scholarship to study at the American University of Beirut, he went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in 1977.
With prospects in Lebanon clouded by civil war, he began his career in Oman, working for Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) for over a decade. He then cofounded the oil facilities company Petrofac, which under his direction became a world leader in the field of oil and gas technology. By 2010, Petrofac had grown to employ 14,000 people and had revenues of $4.35bn.
Seeking new challenges, Semaan resigned in 2013 to found AlCazar Capital, a multi-faceted investment company, and focused his energies on entrepreneurial endeavors in renewable energy, telecommunications, and real estate. He also increased his philanthropic activities and established the Semaan Foundation in 2011 to provide critical support in the fields of education, health care, and social welfare.
In the field of education, his own experience as a scholarship student inspired his dedication to helping others pursue a world-class education. He served as a trustee of the American University of Beirut (AUB) and American University of Sharjah, supporting these institutions’ efforts to provide scholarships and innovative research programs. That included a gift in 2017 that was the largest single donation in AUB’s history, exceeding the previously largest gift of $32 million. The Semaan Foundation’s support for education also benefited other institutions, among them Balamand University, where the new chemical engineering building bears his name, and AMIDEAST/Lebanon, which received funding for scholarship programs and youth-focused initiatives that advanced entrepreneurship and training for English language teachers.
Nour Semaan speaking at the American University of Beirut about her father’s commitment to education
Semaan was recognized for his generous and dedicated support of education. “Maroun believed deeply in the power of education and its role in preparing the citizen leader,â€
