Abdul Fattah Shamleh is the Director of the Institute of Public Administration at An Najah National University. He received his Ph.D. degree in Public

Administration from Rajasthan University in 1990 after receiving his master’s degree from Nagpur University, both of which are located in India. He also holds a master in organizational development from the Euro Arab Management School in Spain. Abdul Fattah’s experience extends beyond Hebron as he has designed and managed a wide range of public administration training programs in Palestine, Bahrain, and Oman. Through his short-term fellowship at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service, Abul Fattah acquired further knowledge that has allowed him to strengthen his department’s management, reform the curriculum, publish additional articles in his field, and network with US professors for future cooperation.

Abdul Fattah is working on establishing a platform for the exchange of knowledge and expertise between American intellectuals and their Palestinian counterparts.

Ahed Helles has international education experience from having earned his master’s degree from Netherlands in inner city revitalization.

Dr. Ahed obtained his Ph.D. from Cairo University in 2006 and currently works as an assistant professor at the Interior Design Department at Al-Aqsa University. Dr. Ahed sees the experience as an extraordinary one for his institution’s development as well as for his own professional development. Through his short-term fellowship at The University of Florida’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Dr. Ahed learned more about the US educational system and how it can be applied within the Palestinian educational context.

One of his most successful publications is a research paper that examines the impact of tribal conflict and violence on the decline of inner city areas, using the Turkman neighborhood in the city of Gaza as a case study.

Akram Miqdad was born in Jerusalem in 1956 and holds both a Ph.D. and M.A. from Besancon University in France. Between 2005 and 2008, he was the assistant dean in the Faculty of Arts at Al Quds University, where he also teaches general linguistics, French, and English. Until 2006, Dr. Miqdad was the Director of the Department of Cultural Studies at his university. As a result of years of experience in academia, Dr. Miqdad believes that the education system in Palestine lacks a deeper understanding of curriculum development in a way that would allow the students to maximize their benefit of second language learning methods.

Dr. Miqdad said that his short term fellowship from City University of New York helped him understand the theories and techniques needed to alleviate the English phobia syndrome present in Palestinian territories. He hopes to develop a curriculum that can be applied at both schools and universities so as to bridge the gap between them.

Alaa Alghoul is a teacher of English language and Literature with excellent language skills. He obtained his B.A. from Egypt and his master’s degree from Al-Aqsa University, where he now works as a teaching assistant.

Mr. Alghoul has a special interest in American culture as he believes that it is important to teach language and literature within their cultural context.

Mr. Al-Ghoul has shown strength in all aspects of life. His dedication and enthusiasm to learn is extremely evident, and he has used his experience at the English Department at Indiana University at Bloomington to further his teaching tools and skills. Alaa is an active member of the Palestinian writers’ union, and is keenly dedicated to the use of figurative languages as a means of literary expression.

Ata Darwish has considerable teaching experience in higher education although his key interests with respect to his short-term fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education lay in education evaluation and measurement. Ata began teaching as a research assistant at Daharan University in Saudi Arabia in 1985 and most recently has been the Head of the Curriculum Development Department at Al-Azhar University in Gaza.

Dr. Darwish earned a master’s degree in science education in 1994 from London University, and followed this with a Ph.D. from Egypt’s Ein Shams University in 1998.

Dr. Darwish used his fellowship to focus on developing two existing courses he has taught: curriculum and program evaluation, and research skills. Both are core courses taught in the Education Faculty and both are in need of updating.

Ayesha Al‐Rifai is an affiliated scholar at UC Berkeley and is Dean of Education Sciences Faculty and Principal of Ramallah Women Training Center at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Ramallah‐ West Bank. She manages and plans for more than twenty‐four degree awarding programs and courses offered to a 1000‐student college that serves young refugee Palestinian women.

Dr. Al Rifai earned her doctorate from City University of London in the UK and worked as an assistant professor at the Public Health Faculty at Al Quds University and as a guest lecturer at the School of Health Professions at Bethlehem University in Palestine. Alongside her academic work in the area of public health policy, planning and evaluation Al Rifai served as a national consultant in the areas of gender, reproductive health, policy research, and programs/ project evaluation for UN agencies, national and international, governmental and non‐governmental organizations working in humanitarian aid and development in Palestine such as UNDP, UNFPA, UNIFEM, UNICEF, JICA, and USAID.

Ayesha did her Short-Term Fellowship visit at San Francisco State University. She hopes to further her efforts towards developing a course in multicultural gender inclusive higher education.

Bilal Shafei obtained his Ph.D. in computer science and linguistics from Franche Comte University in Besancon, France. Upon returning home, he worked as a director of Public Relations at An-Najah National University, where he established the French Department and the Language Resource Center, he also helped create the foreign language center at the university. Bilal is now the head of the French Department at An-Najah University and an assistant professor of computer science and linguistics.

Bilal successfully completed his fellowship at Columbia University’s Department of International And Trans cultural Studies. He believes this opportunity has helped him explore how the US educational system works and has used this experience to improve the existing educational system in Palestine. He has also published various papers on teaching and learning foreign languages and cultures.

Hasan Arafat spent his short term fellowship at Utah State University and also presented at PFDP’s Second Annual Academic Colloquium, where he received rave reviews by the audience for a very professional, well-research presentation.

Dr. Arafat obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 2000. His relationship with US universities has continued and he has been involved in numerous research projects and publications. He has been an Assistant Professor at An-Najah University since 2003, and has published and presented a number of papers in various conferences in the United States. He is specifically interested in environmental protection and management, and is working on implementing a relevant course in Palestine.

Hisham Hidmi has been the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at Al-Quds Open University (QOU) since July 2003. Over the last decade he has taught in several Palestinian universities, as well as Zarka Private University in Jordan.

Hisham earned a Ph.D. in experimental atomic physics from Kansas State University in 1993 and he has two master degrees, one in physics, and the other in medical physics. Hisham has published over 20 papers in various refereed journals. He is well-traveled, having undertaken research and training in Malaysia, France, Belgium, and Germany in recent years. As an administrator at QOU, Hisham is interested in further exploring the methodologies of distance learning, e-learning techniques, and overall higher education administration.

He completed a Fellowship at Vanderbilt University’s Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations within the Peabody College of Education and Human Development.

Jamal Rabee is a Senior Technical Instructor and Head of the Computer Department at the UNRWA Men’s Training Center in Ramallah. He has over ten years of teaching experience with the unusual combination of an academic background in electrical engineering as well as expertise in the field of IT. Jamal takes pride in being the co-author of several information technology school text books for Palestinian high school students. He has also been collaborating with the Palestinian Curriculum Development Center in Ramallah since 2002. Jamal lived in the US during his undergraduate studies at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. This experience left him with strong impressions of the US, and allowed him to earn a bachelor of science in electrical engineering in 1989. With his short-term fellowship, Jamal spent a semester at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.

During his fellowship, he enriched his theoretical background on how to design a course at the college level, and learned new pedagogical skills relevant to his field.

Khader Jum’a was born in Bethlehem in 1964 and is an academic supervisor and English teacher at Al-Quds Open University in Bethlehem. He obtained his PhD degree in curriculum and teaching methods from the Amman Arab University for Graduate Studies in 2008.

Dr. Jum’a was one of the participants in PFDP’s Seminar for Excellence in Teaching and has also participated in PFDP’s E-learning workshop in July 2008. Dr. Jum’a considers his experience from the short-term fellowship at Indiana State University’s Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics as an advanced step in the framework of constant development and professional satisfaction to enrich the current practices of English teaching in Palestine. More specifically, Dr. Jum’a hopes to establish a course titled Language Use which relates to the cultural needs of Palestinian students who study English as an international language. He also would like to promote a course using the moodle and virtual class technique, which has already been introduced at Al-Quds Open University.

Khaled Abedraboo has been a dedicated academic instructor at UNRWA colleges in the West Bank since 1979.

He obtained an MSc in teaching English for specific purposes (TESP), at the Language Studies Unit (LSU), Aston University in Birmingham, UK. During his fellowship at the University of New Mexico’s Department of Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies, Mr. Abedraboo gained insights on the unwritten system of social behavior and how cultural differences deal with this issue.

Khaled Elsousy is a full-time assistant professor at Al-Aqsa University who exerts positive energy full of friendliness and chivalry.

Elsousy received his master’s degree in physical chemistry from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey. Unable to find a scholarship in this field, he decided to enroll in the joint PhD program between Ein Shams University, Cairo and Al-Aqsa University. He has written several research papers on environmental chemistry and water treatment, and has used his fellowship at Iowa State University’s Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering to build cooperative research and exchange ideas with his fellow colleagues there.

Mazen Hamada is an assistant professor at Al-Azhar University’s Chemistry Department, as well as the Director of International Relations. Dr. Hamada has taught courses in solid waste, air pollution, methods of pollutants analysis, and instrumental chemistry. Moreover, Dr. Hamada has published several studies related to drinking water quality in the Gaza Strip. His interest in this field stems from his concern for an environmental crisis in the Gaza Strip. There is a dearth of expertise on these issues and few practical studies, which has worsened the crisis. He believes that there should be monitoring of water pollution for pesticide and heavy metals.

Dr. Hamada believes his semester at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning “was a great opportunity in both theoretical and practical aspects.” He notes, “I am working on developing a course on the usage of alternative techniques in managing and treating water resources in the Gaza Strip.” Dr. Mazen also gained knowledge on how to better design future studies for monitoring water pollution.

Mohammed Sahhar received his B.A. from Bethlehem University in physiotherapy. He was awarded a scholarship to study his master’s degree in public health from a distinguished university in Belgium.

Mr. Sahhar spent a Short Term Fellowship at The University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Public Health, where he learned new teaching and learning practices in the field of public health. He is interested in the role universities are playing in linking applied research with community programs, especially in measuring outcomes and impact and the role these universities are doing in preparing trained and qualified staff of researchers.

Munir Serhan left for India after finishing high school and received all of his higher education degrees in Biology there with honors. He has been teaching at the UNRWA Teaching Center in Ramallah since 1997 and is currently the head of Department of Sciences.

Dr. Serhan is passionate about producing a new generation of well qualified teachers in the Palestinian education sector. He has worked on developing new and improved courses through his fellowship in Iowa State University’s Department of Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering and interaction with various university faculty. He is dedicated to working at the UNRWA teaching center, where he works to prepare and motivate his students to transfer their knowledge and activities into the outside communities.

He is working alongside his students and teams comprising of science faculties and students towards a focus on the development and evaluation of the new Palestinian Ecology Curriculum.

Nabil Al-Joulani is an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Technology at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from Carleton University in Canada and a master’s degree in the same field from the University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Al-Joulani is extremely interested in environmental problems and has participated in a series of conferences on this topic in Italy, Jordan, and Palestine. Dr. Al-Joulani’s wide range of teaching includes courses in soil mechanics, engineering geology, and road and traffic engineering. Over the years, Dr. Al-Joulani developed an extensive interest in the stone cutting industry in Palestine. One of his major accomplishments is the successful production of PVC plastic pipes using stone slurry waste as a replacement for calcium carbonate. His achievement has been registered as patent in the Ministry of National Economy at the Palestinian National Authority.

During his short-term fellowship in New Jersey Institute of Technology, Dr. Al-Joulani focused on specific courses related to geo-environmental studies, such as landfill design and monitoring, remediation of contaminated ground, and recycling of industrial solid and liquid waste. He also hopes to initiate a master’s program in Geo-Environmental Engineering at the Palestine Polytechnic University.

Nadia Najjab is an assistant professor at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Birzeit University. She was born in Kuwait and received her Ph.D. in Middle East studies from the United Kingdom shortly after completing an M.A. in special education from the United States. Dr. Najjab is passionate about women’s studies, and is preparing to write a research paper on issues related to the suffering of Palestinian women using real cases. Her background combination of psychology and women’s issues encouraged many of her female colleagues and students to confide in her on their daily issues. On engaging in the fellowship at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies she notes: “My short fellowship in the US assisted my research and enabled me to develop a course outline for my M.A. course titled “Contemporary Arab Women.”

Nadia’s experience while working in the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center has further rounded her knowledge in analyzing society’s view on Palestinian women. Furthermore, Dr. Najjab participated in and organized a number of conferences in Palestine, Northern Ireland, and Budapest.

Nadira AlAraj is a lecturer at the Faculty of Business Administration at Bethlehem University.

She is from Bethlehem and has been a teacher at Bethlehem University since 1990. She holds two masters degrees –in information resource management and computer science—from Syracuse University in the United States. She recently completed a Short Term Fellowship at Lewis University. Her colleagues describe her as a supportive resource to the community in Bethlehem especially in the field of information technology and its use in decision making. She is a very dedicated individual both as a lecturer to her students and to her evolving career.

The PFDP short term fellowship opened the door for Nadira to explore new ways of teaching and learning. The opportunity reinforced the value of the engaged learning process and how the teacher’s role is to provide a rich environment to students by encouraging them to work together and share their knowledge and responsibility on a specific task.

Osama Ata is an assistant professor in the Physics Department of Bethlehem University. Dr. Ata has dedicated his life to his academic achievements in the field of wireless communications and technology.

In 1989, Dr. Ata earned his PhD degree in wireless communications from the University of Wales in the United Kingdom, after which he traveled to the US as a visiting associate professor at Stanford University. Soon after, Dr. Ata returned home and began working in the Palestinian higher education system, while also engaging in a series of research projects and conferences in the Czech Republic, Morocco, France, and the USA. In order to further develop the telecommunications sector in Palestine.

Dr. Ata has held cooperative discussions with various sister universities in order to establish a unique Master’s program in wireless communications at Bethlehem University, which would attract many graduates and will in turn appeal to the Palestinian market. He has recently joined the faculty of Palestine Polytechnic University.

Saed Al Koni is the Vice President for Administrative Affairs at An-Najah National University in Nablus. He was also the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences for four years. Saed has been affiliated with An-Najah University since his completing undergraduate studies in 1978 and throughout his entire career. In 1984 he went to the US to obtain his MBA and in 1990 traveled to Germany for his Ph.D. studies at Wurzburg University. This multinational experience has enriched his perspective toward higher education. Saed was delighted to spend his short-term fellowship at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School in New York. He considered this “an opportunity to learn the latest means of IT in modern teaching, update current curriculum in his department, update the library with recent books and publications, and build linkages with reputable business schools and faculty.”

Sahar Natsheh was the only women among the short-term fellows selected in the PFDP cohort of 2006/2007. In addition, she was the only grantee who was not an academic. She works as a senior field officer for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Jerusalem. Sahar holds a master’s degree in public administration and policy from Hebrew University. In her current position, Sahar is responsible for implementing and evaluating humanitarian relief programs targeting Palestinian communities. Being a Short-term Fellow has enhanced her work experience and helped her carry out her duties more effectively. Her fellowship has allowed her to teach part-time in higher education which has been a longterm ambition. Sahar’s main concern has been and will always be helping marginalized people improve their lives. She has returned to working at the International Committee of the Red Cross after her semester at Duke University’s Center for International Development.

Saida Affouneh is senior lecturer in teaching math and pedagogy, and researcher at Al Quds Open University. Over the years, she has been an active alumna of An-Najah National University, where she received her BA and MA degrees in mathematics and in teaching mathematics, while graduating with distinction. Following this success Dr. Affouneh obtained her PhD in decentralization and emergency education at the University of Huddersfield, England. Dr. Affouneh commitment to the field of education is demonstrated not only through teaching but also through various roles that she has played which contributed to the development of education in Palestine. Dr. Affouneh has worked in coordination with the Ministry of Education, Birzeit University, UNESCO and the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute.

Dr. Affouneh has published a book and over four papers in international journals and participated in many conferences and has gained three faculty and research grants from PFDP\AMIDEAST and PARC. She is working now on her second book about educational reform.

Salaheddin Junaidi was born in Hebron in 1967;Dr. Junaidi is an assistant professor at the Palestine Technical College of Aroub, located in his home city of Hebron. Before entering his profession, he completed his Ph.D. studies in software engineering at the University of the Aegean in Greece, after completing his M.A. in computer science at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, U.S.A. While in the States, Dr. Junaidi received the American Association for Artificial Intelligence Award in 2005. His work has been highly respected as he received a grant from the Greek State Scholarship Foundation in order to pursue his research at the University of the Aegean, where he also taught a class in Unified Modeling Language.

Further into his career, Dr. Junaidi published a book on agentoriented software engineering, which was a success in both Europe and Palestine. In an attempt to enhance his knowledge in computer science and information technology, Dr. Junaidi attended a series of international conferences in Portugal, Austria, and Germany.

Samir Said is currently the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron and is a prominent teacher at the College of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In 1988, Dr. Said received a scholarship to complete his Ph.D. in power electronics in Bulgaria, where he also completed his master’s degree in electrical machines and apparatus. During his studies and professional career, Dr. Said participated in a number of conferences in the field of electrical machines and power electronics in Bulgaria, Jordan, the Netherlands, and Greece. He also attended the first conference for scientific research in Cairo in 2004 while also visiting other Egyptian universities to foster academic relations. In 2008, he was awarded the PFDP Teaching Excellence Award for his commitment and innovative methods of teaching. Dr. Said believes in the importance of teaching advanced courses in power electronics and energy conservation in order to keep students updated with the new and developing technologies in this field.

He notes “My short term fellowship at the University of Hartford helped me expand my knowledge and prepare new ideas for my upcoming course titled “Electrical Energy Systems”.

Shawqi Ghannam works as an assistant professor at Al-Aqsa University where he works as the Head of the English Department.

Dr. Ghannam obtained his master’s degree in TESOL from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, while on a Fulbright scholarship. He further obtained his Ph.D. from Ein Shams University in Cairo. Dr. Ghannam’s appreciation of his Fulbright experience strongly motivated him to undertake the STF. Dr. Ghannam took advantage of his STF at the English Department of Indiana University in order to network with faculty in the same field.

He is currently focusing on active courses that may engage students and promote their involvement and love of poetry, while also sharing the on-going process of reshaping literary courses at his university, towards revitalizing studying literature through signifying possible relations between reader, text, and the world.

Tariq Sirhan is currently the Deputy Principal of the Ramallah Men’s Training Center of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East.

Sirhan’s educational background includes a Diploma in education and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering. Mr. Sirhan notes “this short-term fellowship at the University of South Florida improved my knowledge and developed new skills in vocational education, as well as learning about the various vocational training programs offered in the U.S. I hope to use this experience to further the UNRWA’s objective of introducing new training trends such as optimization, restructuring, and competency based training”.

Mr. Tariq’s hopes to pursue his professional goal of becoming one of the main policy makers in the field of vocational education in Palestine since he believes that this sector will eventually improve the Palestinian economy and secure a better life for Palestinian youth.

Wael Abu Hassan attended the Seminar for Excellence in Teaching in July 07 and January 08, before being accepted to attend a short term fellowship at California State University at Northridge’s Department of Psychology. He has also been an active participant in the Collaborative Project in teaching addressing special needs education.

Wael left for India after finishing high school and received all his higher education degrees in Psychology from there with honors. He has been teaching at Palestinian universities since the year 2000. Dr. Abu Hassan published several papers relating to psychological dimensions, spiritual medicine, and assessments of the performance of various Palestinian universities.

Yousef Subuh obtained his B.A. degree in chemical engineering from Yugoslavia and his master’s degree from An- Najah University in Nablus.

He has been a researcher and instructor at Palestinian universities since 1990. He is currently a lecturer and chairperson of the Technology Education Department at Palestine Arroub Technical College. Mr. Subuh attended various international trainings and conferences and was given the Hisham Hijawi award for applied sciences in the field of agriculture and water in Jordan in 1999.

During his fellowship at Utah State University’s Utah Water Research Laboratory Mr. Subuh gained further research skills and practical insight which he is now implementing in his university in Palestine. He has also improved his teaching skills and is adopting active teaching methods for undergraduate students.