Appointment of the Associate Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship August 2, 2026 Dear AUC Community, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ayman Ismail as associate provost for innovation and entrepreneurship, effective August 1, 2026. This appointment follows an extensive international search during which we were fortunate to consider a number of highly qualified candidates. Ismail has been a member of The American University in Cairo family for more than 35 years. He earned his bachelor's degree in engineering, with a minor in computer science, in 1995 and his master of business administration in 1997 from AUC. He later received a master's degree in city planning and a PhD in international economic development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following distinguished service with organizations including McKinsey and Company and the World Bank, Ismail returned to AUC in 2011 as assistant professor and Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship. Since then, he has held several leadership positions, including founding director of the AUC Venture Lab, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and founding director of the AUC Innovation Hub. The Office of the Associate Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a newly established unit dedicated to advancing innovation, entrepreneurship and research impact across the University. The office will promote collaboration among researchers, students, industry partners and external stakeholders, both locally and globally. Its mission is to enhance AUC's contribution to society by fostering industry partnerships, supporting knowledge translation and advancing entrepreneurial activities across a broad range of fields, including sustainability, climate and water, energy, urban studies and smart cities, biomedical sciences, artificial intelligence and data-driven research. In this role, Ismail will lead and manage the Technology, Research and Innovation Laboratory, known as TRI-LAB, and will be responsible for: - Establishing and leading TRI-LAB as AUC's central hub