| Arab
Americans: Making a Difference A brochure by Casey Kasem Download "Arab
Americans: Making a Difference" in PDF |
| There are
about 3 million Arab-Americans, and as a community, we've been
demonstrating loyalty, inventiveness, and courage on behalf of the
United States for over 100 years. Here are just a few of the famous and
accomplished ones -- people you may know!
Military Service And in 1944, one of our Navy’s ships, the destroyer escort USS Naifeh, was named in honor of an Arab American hero, Navy Lt. Alfred Naifeh of Oklahoma. More recently, West Point graduate and retired four-star Gen. George Joulwan was the NATO Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, where he commanded both European and U.S. troops. Brig. Gen. William J. Jabour is the Director of the Air Force Program Executive Office for Fighter and Bomber programs in charge of the F-22 System Program Office (SPO).
Political There are two Arab Americans in President George W. Bush’s Cabinet: U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mitchell Daniels. The first Arab American ever appointed to a Cabinet secretary post was Donna Shalala, the nation’s longest serving Secretary of Health and Human Services, and now president of the University of Miami. Former Governor of New Hampshire John H. Sununu became the White House Chief of Staff under Pres. George Bush Sr., and later a political commentator on CNN. America’s longest-serving White House Chief of Protocol, serving seven and a half years under President Reagan, was Ambassador Selwa Roosevelt. Thomas A. Nassif and Edward Gabriel also served as U.S. Ambassador to Morocco. Our Ambassador to Syria is Theodore Kattouf, and Marcelle Wahba is Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. The late ambassador Philip C. Habib served as Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Feisty Helen Thomas, who served for 57 years as a correspondent for United Press International and was dean of the White House press corps, is a Hearst newspaper syndicated columnist. In a class by himself, the late, warm-hearted Robert George portrayed Santa Claus year-round for nearly 50 years and was a Presidential Santa at the White House through seven administrations. Others who have served in high elected office are: former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, who brokered a peace deal in Northern Ireland and led a peace commission to the Middle East; former U.S. Senators James Abourezk and James Abdnor, both of South Dakota; and former Congressional members Pat Danner of Missouri, Mary Rose Oakar of Ohio, the late George Kasem of California, who was the first Arab American elected to the U.S. Congress, Abraham Kazen, Jr. of Texas, and Toby Moffett of Connecticut. Victor Atiyeh was the popular governor of Oregon.
Sports In basketball, there’s former NBA center Rony Seikaly. UCLA’s fiery coach Jim Harrick took his team to the NCAA playoffs eight years in a row, winning the national championship in 1995; he’s now coaching at the University of Georgia. The late George Maloof, Sr. owned the NBA’s Houston Rockets; today his sons, Joe and Gavin Maloof, own the Sacramento Kings. Major League baseball player Joe Lahoud played with the Boston Red Sox and Sam Khalifa played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. And Fred Saigh once owned baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals. In auto racing, Bobby Rahal won the Indy 500 in 1986, later becoming the alltime earnings champ among Indy car racers. The founder of the Professional Bowlers Association was the late Eddie Elias. In the ring, Petey Sarron won the world featherweight championship in 1936-1937. Zuhair “Steve” Mansour was weightlifting’s Grandmaster of the World in 1990. And a four-time U.S. National Chess Champion and Grandmaster is Seattle’s Yasser Seirawan. Women’s International Chess Master Jennifer Shahade won the 2002 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. The late Dr. Elias Ghanem, former chairman of the Nevada Athletic Commission and Las Vegas’own physician to the stars, once treated celebrities like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, and Paul Anka. In track and field, the world record holder for the marathon is Arab American Khalid Khannouchi.
Activists Back in 1960, Ralph Johns, an active participant in the civil
rights movement, encouraged the famous Woolworth “sit-in” at a lunch
counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. And today Dr. Rabih Aridi
works to promote human rights as treasurer and board member of Amnesty
International USA. Najeeb Halaby, former head of the Federal Aviation Administration, was CEO of Pan-American Airlines. His daughter, Lisa, married King Hussein of Jordan and became the only Arab American to be queen of a foreign country, Queen Noor. Jacques Nasser was formerly the president and CEO of Ford Motor Company. The chairman of the board of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company is Samir G. Gibara. The late Stephen Yokich served five terms as vice president of the International United Auto Workers union, then became its president. Ned Mansour was formerly the president of Mattel, Inc., maker of Barbie dolls and other toys. John Mack is the CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston and was formerly the president of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, one of America’s largest investment banking firms. Dr. Raymond Jallow is an internationally respected economic advisor to governments and institutions, lecturing in financial capitals around the world. Youssef A. Nasr is the president and CEO of HSBC USA, a leading financial services organization and the third largest depository institution. William Hanna is the founding president and CEO of Cedars Bank, a wholly Arab American owned commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The chairman of the board and CEO of Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. is Mohammed Abu-Ghazaleh. Farouk Shamie is the CEO and founder of Farouk Systems USA, a premier hair and skin care company that introduced environmentally safe products for hairdressers. Lebanese-American Richard E. Rainwater built his reputation managing investments for Texas’ wealthy Bass family and earned millions for himself as a result. He recently set up a $120 million trust for Stanford and the University of South Carolina. George Shaheen is credited with founding Andersen Consulting, now called Accenture, and served as CEO and managing partner as part of a 30-year career at the world’s biggest consulting firm. Roger Farah is president and chief operating officer of Polo Ralph Lauren and previously served as chairman of the board of Venator Group, Inc., the parent company of Footlocker. The “new economy” has its share of Arab American heroes as well: Simon Assad is the co-CEO of Heavy.com, a music site that was nominated for a Webby, the Internet’s highest honor. One of America’s preeminent pollsters, keeping tabs on public opinion and other statistics, is John Zogby of Zogby International. Paul Orfalea founded the world’s biggest international chain
of copying service stores, Kinko’s; while Waleed and Malik Ali
founded MPI, the world’s largest home-video distributor of
documentaries. Entrepreneur Tony Ismail founded the Alamo Flag
Company in Dallas and built it into the largest retailer of flags and
related items in the U.S. today.
Entertainment Speaking of music, two of America’s landmark music shows on radio were created by two Arab Americans, Don Bustany and me — “American Top 40” and “American Country Countdown.” Diane Rehm is host and executive producer of “The Diane Rehm Show” on National Public Radio (NPR). The man who pioneered the concept of a radio programming consultant in 1958 is Mike Joseph, who’s helped organizations like ABC, CBS, and NBC, among others. On Broadway, playwright Fred Saidy wrote two classics, “Finian’s Rainbow” and “Bloomer Girl.” Opera prima donna Rosalind Elias hit the high notes at the Met. And for avant-garde “Dancer of the Year” in 1992, the New York Times picked a 20-year Broadway veteran with the Paul Taylor Company — Elie Chaib. David Yazbek wrote the lyrics and score for “The Full Monty.” Turning to television, Lucie Salhany became the first woman to head a television network, as chair of Fox Broadcasting Co., then of United Paramount Network. Among TV directors, two Arab Americans have each helmed over 300 episodes for the networks. Asaad Kelada has done numerous series like “Family Ties” and episodes of “The Facts of Life,” “Who’s the Boss?,”“WKRP in Cincinnati,” etc. After directing Broadway hits like “Sweet Charity,” “Mame,” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” John Bowab switched to TV and has directed episodes of “Soap,” “Benson,” “Bosom Buddies,” “The Facts of Life,” and “ The Cosby Show.” Did you know... On NBC, “Saturday Night Live’s” bandleader for many years was guitarist G.E. Smith. (His family’s Lebanese name, Haddad, means blacksmith). The best-known Lebanese in America was
also the founder of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital — the late,
great comedian and actor Danny Thomas. His son is a television
and film producer and multi-Emmy winner for “The Golden Girls” and other
TV shows — Tony Thomas. The leading man who starred in the movies “Flashdance” and “Finding Forrester” was Michael Nouri, who also starred in TV’s “Love and War” sitcom. Tony Shalhoub, now starring in USA Network’s series “Monk,” and Amy Yasbeck appeared in the hit sitcom “Wings” — the first time two Arab Americans have been featured in the same TV series. Amy has also starred in films including Mel Brooks’ “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” Tony has moved to the big screen as well, in both “Men in Black ” films,“The Siege,” “A Civil Action,” and “Thirteen Ghosts” (with fellow Arab Americans F. Murray Abraham and Shannon Elizabeth). Crusty but soft-hearted Mel in TV’s “Alice” was portrayed by the late Vic Tayback. One of the co-stars of the series “Empty Nest” was Kristy McNichol. A star of TV’s “Head of the Class” was once picked by People Magazine as one of the “50 most beautiful people in the U.S.” — Khrystyne Haje. Other Arab American television actors include Yasmine Bleeth, who starred in “Baywatch” and “Nash Bridges,” and Tige Andrews, who spent years with the “Mod Squad.” Two other fine movie and television actors who also starred in popular TV dramas are James Stacy, who played the main role in “Laramie,” and Michael Ansara, who played Cochise in “Broken Arrow.” An award-winning comic actress from San Diego, Kathy Najimy, played a funloving nun in the “Sister Act” films. She co-starred as Olive, a Lebanese- American, in NBC-TV’s “Veronica’s Closet” with Kirstie Alley. Kathy is the voice of Peggy Hill on Fox-TV’s animated hit “King of the Hill.” Lovely Salma Hayek, who is of Lebanese and Mexican descent, is another actress who has lit up the small screen (in cable TV’s movie “The Hunchback,” as the gypsy Esmeralda) and the big screen (Oscar-winning “Traffic,” “Desperado,” “Wild Wild West,” and “Frida,” about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo). Shannon Elizabeth of “American Pie,” “Scary Movie,” and “Tomcats” is of Lebanese and Syrian ancestry. The former head of Carolco Pictures, handling the “Rocky,” “Rambo,” and “Terminator” films, was “billion-dollar producer” Mario Kassar. The producer of the epic “The Message: The Story of Islam” (a biography of the Prophet Mohammed) and “Lion of the Desert,”not to mention all the blockbuster “Halloween” chillers, is Moustapha Akkad. The director of Jim Carrey’s loony comedy hits “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” and “Liar, Liar,” Eddie Murphy’s “The Nutty Professor,” and Robin Williams’ “Patch Adams” is Tom Shadyac. Together, these films have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. The Pulitzer Prize for biography (“Jackson Pollack: An American Saga”) was shared by the author of three other national bestsellers: writer-publisher Steven Naifeh of South Carolina. The book was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film (best supporting actress). Elie Samaha is chairman and owner of Franchise Pictures, which produced such films as “The Heist,” “Angel Eyes,” “The Whole Nine Yards,” and “Battlefield Earth.” Academy Award-winning film producer Ronald Schwary is best known for his work with “Tootsie,” “Meet Joe Black,” and “Scent of a Woman.” Jehane Noujaim co-directed and co-produced “Startup.com.” One of show business’ legendary talent managers was the late George “Bullets” Durgom, who, through the years, managed Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Marilyn Monroe, to mention a few. Two of today’s top recording stars’ husband-managers are of Arab descent: Rene Angelil, discoverer and manager of wife Celine Dion, and Cuban-born Emilio Estefan, manager and producer of wife Gloria Estefan. Emmy Award-winning cinematographer-director George S. Dibie is president of the International Photographers Guild. Fouad Said was the cinematographer who designed Cinemobile, the first customized van for filming on location, while working on the TV series “I Spy.” For this achievement, he received a Technical Academy Award in 1970. Other Arab American Oscar winners
include F. Murray Abraham, who won Best Actor for the movie
“Amadeus.” Screenwriter and novelist William Peter Blatty won an
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Exorcist,” a huge box
office hit based on his novel of the same name. Recipient of an Oscar
for Best Original Screenplay for “Thelma and Louise” and director of the
“Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” is Callie Khoury. The
late composer Paul Jabara won an Oscar award for Best Song, Donna
Summer’s ”Last Dance” from the movie “Thank God, It’s Friday.” Set
decorator Emile Kuri won two Oscars for his splendid work on “The
Heiress” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” He received a total of
eight Academy Award nominations and later designed many exhibits at
Disneyland. For an inspiring success story, try that of writer-lecturer on business and success, Nido Qubein. When he came to the United States as a teenager, he could barely speak English. He went on to become president of the National Speakers’ Association and the youngest member inducted into the International Speakers’ Hall of Fame.
Fashion Supermodel Yamila Diaz-Rahi, who is of Lebanese and Spanish descent, landed the coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover in 2002. She has also graced the covers of “Marie Claire,” “Elle,” “GQ,” and “Shape.” One of America’s most sought-after hairstylists, Frederic Fekkai, boasts clients such as Claudia Schiffer, Kim Basinger, and Renee Zellweger. Lebanese immigrant J.M. Haggar started Haggar Clothing Co. in 1926. It became one of the world’s best-known brands in men’s apparel. The company is now a multi-million dollar enterprise that is headed by J.M. Haggar III, who serves as chairman and CEO. In addition, Farah Brothers manufactures men’s and women’s slacks, and Maloof Brothers manufactured Mod-O-Day women’s dresses. Norma Kamali, who designs everything from clothing and cosmetics to eyeglasses, is of Arab ancestry. Reem Acra is one of the world’s preeminent designers of bridal fashions and is known for her elaborate embroideries. Hair accessories and jewelry designer Colette Malouf began her rise to the top in 1987 with the “Malouf Poof.” She is known for her innovative use of exotic materials and her celebrity clientele.
Art The first woman to design a major American art museum, Cincinnati’s $34 million Contemporary Art Center, is Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid. Artist Ghada Amer’s hand embroidered paintings were selected for the Whitney Biennial 2000 and the Venice Biennale in 1999. Naomi Shihab Nye is an award-winning poet and author of children’s literature.
Science and Medicine Two winners of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry are Arab American. Dr. Ahmed H. Zewail, a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology (CIT), is the 1999 winner. The 1990 winner is Harvard’s Dr. Elias Corey. Also at CIT is Dr. Charles Elachi, who was selected to head up the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A pioneer in the field of electrical engineering, inventor Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah worked for the General Electric Company (GE) in the 1920s and 30s. His research led to 52 patent applications, among them innovations in solar energy and television tubes. Geologist George A. Doumani’s explorations helped prove the theory of continental drift; he has a mountain peak named after him in Antarctica. Another American geologist, Dr. Farouk el-Baz, born in Egypt, helped plan all the Apollo moon landings and later pioneered the use of space photography to study the Earth. Finally, the courageous astronauts who
lost their lives aboard the space shuttle Challenger represented several
racial and ethnic groups: African-American, Hispanic-American,
Asian-American, Anglo-American, Jewish-American — and Arab American:
schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. We’ve all heard
this quote before:
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” — a famous quote by an Irish-American president, John F. Kennedy, that inspired an entire generation.
These words were first written by, among others, the Arab American author of “The Prophet,” Kahlil Gibran. And that sentiment, so beautifully expressed by Gibran more than 70 years ago, has inspired Americans of all heritages. We Arab Americans are proud of our heritage and proud to be Americans. It’s this pride that keeps us all asking, “What can we do for our country?”— the good old U.S.A. |
