Ambassador (ret.) William A. Rugh was the president of Amideast from 1995 to 2003, following a distinguished diplomatic career that included service as U.S. ambassador to Yemen (1984-86) and to the UAE (1992-95). He was a foreign service officer with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) from 1964 to 1995 and served at six posts, all in the MENA region: Cairo (twice), Jidda, Riyadh, Damascus, Sanaa, and Abu Dhabi. In Washington, he served in USIA’s Near East/South Asia Bureau three times. He retired in 1995 as a career minister.  

Dr. Mary Gray is the author of books and papers in the fields of mathematics, mathematics education, computer science, applied statistics, economic equity, discrimination law, and academic freedom. She has lectured throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Her current research interests include applications of statistics in litigation, ethical issues in statistics, intellectual property and academic freedom, and language and gender issues in mathematics. Her work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P.

Ms. Mona Oswald is a retired Financial Marketing Executive with experience in broad-based strategic sales planning, market expansion, and relationship management. As a Vice President of Investments with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney she advised high-net-worth individuals, family offices, law firms, and other corporate clients concerning investment opportunities, retirement, and pension planning.

Mr. Hussam Abu Issa has distinguished himself in a variety of fields, including entrepreneurship, business, finance, philanthropy, and intercultural relations. His interests lie in promoting higher education, research on health issues, and inter-Arab trade and investment. He is a regular attendee of various international forums and council meetings.

Ms. Leslie Nucho has served as Vice President for Programs at Amideast since 1995. She oversees the organization’s activity in the areas of English language, workplace/employability and professional skills training, educational exchange (including education abroad), and institutional strengthening, as well as its communications and monitoring and evaluation functions. Her role encompasses project design, proposal and budget review and approval, financial monitoring, staff supervision and guidance, and performance and reporting compliance.  

Ms. Erica Pelletreau is a senior member of the communications team at Ford Foundation where she provides strategic advice and communications support to the Global Governance and US and International Civic Engagement and Government teams, and the offices in the Middle East and North Africa and Mexico/Central America. Ms. Pelletreau chairs Amideast’s governance and nominating committee and the board of The Communications Network. Previously she led social justice communications for the Empire State Pride Agenda, PolicyLink, Physicians for Reproductive Health, and the ACLU. Ms.

Dr. Odeh Aburdene is President of OAI Advisors, which provides advice and consultancy on Middle East business, energy, and private equity. Before OAI, he was a Managing Partner of CT Capital International, Inc. Dr. Aburdene received his PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, specializing in oil economics. His thesis analyzed the impact of Middle East oil on the U.S. balance of payments.

Mr. Hisham Fahmy is the CEO of AmCham Egypt Inc., a mirror organization for AmCham Egypt based in Washington D.C., and advisor to the AmCham Egypt Board of Governors. Under his leadership, AmCham Egypt’s membership reached over 1,900 members and 90 staff. He also helped create the AmCham MENA Regional Council to promote U.S. business and investment in the MENA region and served as the council’s Regional Coordinating CEO. 

Dr. Hanine Salem is a senior strategist and established public sector expert with over 20 years of executive level working experience in the field of education, higher education and human capital development. Throughout her career, she has been advising heads of states, prime ministers, ministers and public sector officials in areas related to her field of expertise.

Professor Safwan M. Masri is Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar and Distinguished Professor of the Practice at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Before joining Georgetown in October 2022, Professor Masri was Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University, and a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.