Professor Hassan Diab envisions a world that is transformed, bettered, and reimbued with humanity.
He believes in cultivating the youth for a better future. He reiterates that youth “represent the wealth of any nation”. When it comes to leadership, he states, “the function of leaders is to build more leaders, not followers, something that our region is in dire need of.”
He sees in education a way forward. He argues that education should transcend mere instruction and career development to reshape the learner’s identity, encourage free thinking, and foster responsible citizenship in order to produce game changers for social transcendence. He finds that novel teaching methods can facilitate social unity and prepare new generations for the development of their country.
Building on his beliefs, Professor Diab aspires to create his own path and to leave his mark in the field of education. Moreover, he hopes that his work as a professor, department chair, dean, vice president, university president, education minister, and prime minister will have helped create a wave of change within the overall system, not just in education.
Professor Diab also advocates for peace and inclusivity, having experienced many wars in his lifetime, including Lebanon’s civil war. He believes that “if there must be a war, it should be against exclusion, against lack of dignity, and against human degradation, of which we are oftentimes passive eyewitnesses.” Because of this, he maintains his independence in Lebanese politics and does not affiliate with the traditional political parties in Lebanon. He proposes instead a politics based on expertise and humanity. He strongly believes that in order to overcome the social and political issues that the Lebanese social mosaic is composed of, we need “to accept each other’s differences with mutual respect”.
