A S U

The Faculty of Al-Alsun at Ain Shams University organized a graduation ceremony for the new class of students for the academic year 2024/2025, under the patronage of Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, University President; Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs; and Prof. Salwa Rashad, Dean of the Faculty. The event was supervised by Prof. Yomna Safwat, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, and Prof. Reem El-Kabariti, Director of the Alumni Association at the university.

The ceremony was attended by several prominent figures, including Ambassador Mohamed El-Orabi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Her Excellency Minister Soha El-Gendy, former Minister of Immigration; alongside a group of faculty members, students, and parents.

In her speech, Prof. Ghada Farouk expressed her happiness to share this exceptional day with the graduates, highlighting Ain Shams University’s significant achievements over the past year. These include rising 50 places in the QS 2025 ranking, obtaining institutional accreditation from the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education, and having 74 of its scholars listed among Stanford’s top 2% of scientists worldwide.

She also pointed to the expansion of the e-learning system and digital exams, the enhancement of international cooperation with 25 joint programs with major universities, and the university’s leading position in graduate employment among Egyptian universities.

Prof. Farouk added that the university’s graduates are highly qualified and competitive in the labor market, thanking Dean Prof. Salwa Rashad for her tremendous efforts in developing the Faculty of Al-Alsun, whose roots trace back to the pioneer of enlightenment Rifa’a El-Tahtawy. She confirmed the faculty’s remarkable progress in infrastructure development, accreditation of 14 academic programs, and support for scientific research.

She also thanked the faculty members, with special appreciation for the Alumni Association’s comprehensive cooperation, and the parents for their continuous support enabling their children to reach this honorable milestone.

In her speech, Prof. Salwa Rashad, Dean of the Faculty, affirmed that the Faculty of Al-Alsun is a garden of knowledge and a bridge of culture, founded by the pioneer of enlightenment Rifa’a El-Tahtawy as part of his grand renaissance project to enrich the translation movement and Arabicize sciences.

She noted that since 2013, the faculty has established new credit-hour based programs, including eight bachelor’s degree programs, to meet labor market needs in written, simultaneous, and specialized translation in media, economics, arts, and law.

Prof. Rashad also explained that the faculty launched advanced graduate programs based on credit hours in translation and translation technology, qualifying translators to use the latest software in translation project management, multimedia translation, and localization.

She confirmed that the faculty developed its infrastructure by establishing simultaneous translation labs, electronic exam halls equipped with the latest technologies.

Regarding cooperation, the dean mentioned signing local protocols with the National Center for Translation, the Information Authority, and Arabyze for Arabization and content creation, in addition to international partnerships with Germany’s DAAD, Goethe Institute, and several European and Chinese universities.

She also highlighted the memorandum of understanding with the Arabic Translation Division at the United Nations, which provided training opportunities for Al-Alsun students under international experts and led to the employment of some graduates at UN offices in Vienna, Geneva, and New York.

Prof. Rashad expressed her gratitude to successive faculty administrations, faculty members, and administrative staff who contributed to the accreditation of 14 academic programs during 2023/2024 and 2024/2025.

Ambassador Mohamed El-Orabi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that the world is going through a turbulent phase filled with intertwined crises, asserting that dialogue and negotiation are the most important means of international communication. He stressed that Al-Alsun graduates serve as channels of dialogue and ambassadors of understanding between Egypt and the world, equipped with language and cultural tools.

Former Minister Soha El-Gendy, an Al-Alsun graduate from the class of 1988, expressed pride in belonging to the prestigious faculty, affirming it is one of the greatest faculties in the oldest university in the Middle East, rich in history and civilization.

She noted that the future of graduates is full of ambition and creativity, citing Queen Hatshepsut’s special interest in foreign languages and affirming that today’s Al-Alsun graduates continue this civilizational mission as ambassadors of their homeland abroad.

Dr. Reem El-Kabariti, Director of the Alumni Association, highlighted that the association serves as a vital bridge between the university, its graduates, and the labor market. She noted its activities include organizing free workshops, highlighting successful alumni models, holding scientific forums with symbolic participation fees, and social activities aimed at strengthening ties between different generations of graduates.

The ceremony concluded with honoring the graduates in a festive atmosphere reflecting the university’s pride in its students and reaffirming its ongoing mission to prepare generations capable of competing locally and internationally.

Prof. Salwa Rashad honored Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs; Ambassador Mohamed El-Orabi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Her Excellency Minister Soha El-Gendy, former Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs; Prof. Saleh Hashem, former President of Ain Shams University and former President of the Association of Arab Universities; Prof. Ashraf Atiya, Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and Research; Prof. Makarem Al-Ghamri, former Dean of the Faculty; Prof. Mona Fouad, former Dean; Prof. Nasser Abdel Aal, former Vice Dean for Education and Student Affairs; Prof. Abdel Maseeh Semaan, former Vice Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies and member of the Faculty of Al-Alsun council; and Dr. Reem El-Kabariti, Director of the Ain Shams University Alumni Association.

The faculty team responsible for obtaining program accreditation for the German, Russian, Turkish, Persian, and Hebrew language programs from April 2024 to October 2024 was also honored, led by Prof. Hend Asaad, Director of the Quality Assurance Unit.

The ceremony concluded with Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, honoring Prof. Salwa Rashad, Dean of the Faculty, by presenting her with a shield of appreciation in recognition of her sincere efforts over the past years to advance the educational process at the Faculty of Al-Alsun.