Elie Salem

Salem was born in  Btourram, El Koura (North Lebanon) on 5 March 1930.{{cite book|author=Tom Najem|author2=Roy C. Amore

|title=Historical Dictionary of Lebanon|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2021|isbn=978-1-5381-2044-6|location=Lanham, MD

|edition=2nd|page=272|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JewsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA272}}{{cite web|title=Personal Journey|access-date=8 July 2022|url=https://eliesalem.com/index.php/bloge|publisher=Official website of Elie Salem|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116095315/https://eliesalem.com/index.php/bloge}} He attended the Tripoli Boys School and then earned his BA from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1950 in political science.{{cite web

|title=History Makers. Elie Salem|access-date=8 July 2022|url=https://150.aub.edu.lb/makers?page=4|publisher=American University of Beirut}} He received his PhD in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in 1953.{{cite book |author=Elie Adib Salem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WvUMAQAAMAAJ |title=My American Bride. A Tale of Love and War |publisher=Quartet Books Ltd |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7043-7137-8}}

Salem worked as a professor at Johns Hopkins (SAIS) prior to returning to Lebanon to teach in the Political Science and Public Administration department at AUB in 1962.  He became Chairman of the Department in 1970-1974, and then Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1974 until 1982. He played a leading role in salvaging AUB from the ravages of war and was Acting President on multiple occasions during the most critical periods of the Lebanese internal wars.

In 1982, he was named as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in the government of Prime Minister Chafic al-Wazzan. He led negotiations with all relevant regional and international heads of state in the wake of the 1982 Israeli Invasion in order to achieve a withdrawal of foreign forces and to rebuild Lebanese sovereignty. Between 1984 and 1988 Salem served as an advisor on foreign affairs to Lebanese President Amine Gemayel. He worked closely with the President on maintaining Lebanon’s security and stability and played a key role in the negotiations that led to the Taif Agreement that ended Lebanon’s fifteen-year internal wars.

Following the end of his term in politics, Salem founded the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS) in 1989, which became the leading think tank in Lebanon engaged with issues of democratization and public policy. In 1993 Salem was appointed as the third president of the University of Balamand (UOB).{{Cite web |date=29 November 2024 |title=University of Balamand {{!}} Previous Presidents |url=https://www.balamand.edu.lb/AboutUOB/Presidency/Pages/PreviousPresidents.aspx |access-date=29 November 2024 |website=University of Balamand}} Under his leadership, UOB was transformed from a small provincial university to a full-fledged university of national and international standing. Student enrollment grew from 700 to 5500; campus building increased from 6 to 40; and the university expanded from 3 to 11 Faculties, including Engineering and Medicine.

Salem met Phyllis Sell in the US during his studies there, and they married in 1954.  They have four children: Elise (Lisa), Nina, Adib, and Paul. Elise is currently a Vice President at the Lebanese American University (LAU);{{Cite web |title=Dr. Elise Salem |url=https://www.lau.edu.lb/about/governance/executive-officers/elise-salem.php |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=LAU |language=en}} Nina is a professor of pathology and director of cytology at the American University of Beirut (AUB) Medical Center;{{Cite web |title=AUB - Faculty Member Profile - Nina Shabb |url=https://www.aub.edu.lb/Pages/profile.aspx?memberid=ns04 |access-date=29 November 2024 |website=American University of Beirut}} Adib is an economist and financial consultant; and Paul is a Vice-president of the Middle East Institute.{{Cite web |title=Paul Salem |url=https://www.mei.edu/profile/paul-salem |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Middle East Institute |language=en}}

Salem has eleven grandchildren in Lebanon and the USA. He currently resides in Btourram, El Koura, where he is translating into Arabic his latest book on his vision for Lebanon.

Salem has published over ten books in English and Arabic related to the University of Balamand, including AXIOS: The Rise of a University, From Vision to Action (UOB Press, 2018). His scholarly books include, Violence and Diplomacy in Lebanon{{Cite book |last=Salem |first=Eli |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GAE1zAEACAAJ |title=Violence and Diplomacy in Lebanon: The Troubled Years, 1982-88 |date=1994-12-31 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-85043-835-9 |language=en}}, 1982-1988. Translated into Arabic as al-Khayarat al-Saabah. This is a detailed and critical interpretation of Lebanon’s efforts to regain its independence and sovereignty (I.B. Tauris Press, London, 1995); and Modernization Without Revolution{{Cite book |last=Salem |first=Elie Adib |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=28sjAAAAMAAJ |title=Modernization Without Revolution: Lebanon's Experience |date=1973 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-33870-9 |language=en}} on Lebanon’s experience as a state between 1943 and 1970, prior to its internal war of 1975-1990 (Indiana University Press, Bloomington and London, 1972). He also translated and authored the introduction of Rusūm dār al-khilāfah (The rules and regulations of the ‘Abbāsid court).{{cite web |last1=Ṣābī |first1=Hilāl ibn al-Muḥassin |title=Rusum Dar Al-khilafah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QRKLswEACAAJ |publisher=American University of Beirut |language=en |date=1970}} Amongst his personal books is My American Bride{{Cite book |last=Salem |first=Elie Adib |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WvUMAQAAMAAJ |title=My American Bride |date=2008 |publisher=Quartet |isbn=978-0-7043-7137-8 |language=en}} about his life and marriage and the often humorous clashes between his Lebanese background and 20th century American culture (Quartet Books, London, 2008). He recently published In Dialogue with Lebanon: A Personal-Political Narrative{{Cite book |last=Salem |first=Elie A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBCy0AEACAAJ |title=In Dialogue With Lebanon: A Personal-political Narrative |date=2023 |publisher=Editions Saer Al Mashrek |isbn=978-614-451-345-3 |language=en}} (Saer Al Mashrek, Beirut, 2023).{{cite web|title=Salem, Elie Adib|publisher=Amazon|url=https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AElie++A.+Salem&s=relevancerank&text=Elie++A.+Salem&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1|access-date=7 June 2024}}

• Order of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (1983)
• Honorary Doctorate of Law from Marietta College (1984){{cite web |url=https://www.marietta.edu/honorary-degrees |website=Marietta College |access-date=December 6, 2024 |title=Honorary Degrees Conferred by Marietta College }}
• Order of the Cedars of Lebanon (1988)
• Grand Cordon of Order of St. Peter and St. Paul (2010){{cite book |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110945904.476 |title=Who's Who in Lebanon |publisher=Publitec Publications |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-598-07734-0 |edition=19th |location=Beirut |page=307 |doi=10.1515/9783110945904.476}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Foreign Ministers of Lebanon}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salem, Elie}}

Category:20th-century Lebanese writers

Category:1930 births

Category:Living people

Category:Deputy prime ministers of Lebanon

Category:Foreign ministers of Lebanon

Category:American University of Beirut alumni

Category:Academic staff of the American University of Beirut

Category:Academic staff of the University of Balamand

Category:Johns Hopkins University faculty

Category:Lebanese political scientists

Category:Presidents of universities in Lebanon

Category:People from Koura District