International Arabic Advisory Council

Hanadi Dayyeh, PhD, is a researcher in the field of Arabic Historical Linguistics. Her research focuses on the evolution of the Arabic linguistic theory and its impact on the teaching of Arabic. Dr. Dayyeh led and audited the Arabic programs in several international and American schools in countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. She has trained hundreds of Arabic language teachers in international conferences and private schools.

Hanadi Dayyeh has led Queen Rania Teachers Academy’s (QRTA) project for developing standards for teaching Arabic as a native language. She participated in the American Education Reaches Out (AERO) project as a member of the World Languages team. The team oversees the development, implementation and review of the world languages standards and benchmarks in the international and American overseas schools.  She has also chaired the Near East South Asia (NESA) Arabic Advisory group and was a member of NESA’s Professional Development Advisory Committee.

Dr. Dayyeh has several publications. In addition to her published research in the field of Arabic Linguistics, she has developed an Arabic program for learners of Arabic as a World language in grades 1-8, an Arabic program for heritage learners, and a pre-school Arabic program based on Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory. She has also published several children’s stories.

Dr. Christine Brown is an international consultant specializing in advising educators on Program Design for Teaching and Learning. Her areas of special expertise include:  Curriculum and Instruction, Child Protection, Social Emotional Learning, World Languages and ELL programing, working with challenging student placements, and managing challenging leadership issues. Presently, she serves as a special consultant to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NESASC). 

 From 2013 to 2023, Brown served as one of six Regional Education Officers (REOs) in the Office of Overseas Schools, United States Department of State. She covered the Western European Region and for several years also the South America region. Her work included daily guidance to diplomats and more than 200 international schools on the successful transition of the children of U.S. diplomats and American expats to and from the United States to international schools.  Brown also served the Department of State as one of the co-founders of the International Task Force on Child Protection. She wrote and chaired multiple grants and initiatives with the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, (CASEL).

In February 2019, she was awarded the Keith Miller Innovation Award from the Association for the Advancement of International Education for her work in Child Protection around the world. In March 2019, Dr. Brown received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award at Gwynedd Mercy University for her Doctoral Dissertation, The Effects of Early Foreign Language Study on English Reading Comprehension.

A specialist in Arabic language and literature, Omima El Araby has extensive experience teaching Arabic and designing rigorous foreign language programs. She has been teaching the Arabic Language since 1981 in Egypt and Kuwait for native speakers and for non-native speakers in the USA since 1991.

She previously worked for the Defense Language Institute in Monterey (DLI), California as a Language Instructor, teaching Modern Standard Arabic and the Egyptian Dialect. She also served as a Course Developer and Test Writer and co-authored a number of textbooks, digital instructional material and proficiency-based tests for the use of the DLI.

In 2005 she served as an Arabic Language Lecturer at the University of Virginia (UVA), in Charlottesville, Virginia. She joined NYUAD since its establishment in the fall semester of 2010 and was one of the founding team members of the Arabic Studies Program. She served as the Program Assistant Director since the fall semester of 2015. Starting of the fall semester of 2019 she was appointed as the Head of the Arabic Studies Program. She was also appointed as the Head of the Arabic Studies Program at NYUAD, from 2019 till 2022.

Rima Karami-Akkary is an Associate Professor of Educational Administration, Policy and Leadership in the Department of Education at the American University of Beirut and the Chairperson of the Department of Education. She is also the program convener for the Educational Management and Leadership program. Her research mainly focuses on understanding the current practices of school leaders and designing approaches to build capacity among them to lead school improvement initiatives. She has published in international and local journals on the principal role, approaches to professional development, program and organizational level evaluation, and models for school-based reform.

Dr. Karami-Akkary is the director and the principal investigator of the TAMAM project, a research and development project serving 70 schools in 9 Arab countries. The TAMAM project launched in 2007 as a grant funded by the Arab Thought Foundation at AUB to initiate school-based reform and research on how to build leadership skills for sustainable schools. The project has received additional funding from the LORE Foundation, the Taawon Association, and Al Maymouna organization. She currently serves as the Chairperson of the executive committee of Shamaa (Arab Information Educational Network); and the coordinator for the Education sector in the AUB based Khaddit Beirut Initiative.

She holds a Bachelor in Science, Diploma for teaching science at the secondary level, and Master of Arts in Science Education from the American University of Beirut (AUB), and a Doctorate in Education from Portland State University with a specialty in [K-12] Educational Administration and Supervision with a focus on school principalship, organizational change and educational policy.

Zeinab Taha is a Professor of Arabic language and linguistics at the American University in Cairo. She received her BA and MA from the American University in Cairo and her PHD from Georgetown University. She has been working in the field of Teaching Arabic as A Foreign Language for decades. After obtaining her MA in TAFL, she taught in highly reputable universities in the US and Europe in addition to the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo where she assumed the position of its director in addition to being the co-director of the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA). Most recently, she was the Interim Dean for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at AUC.

Dr. Taha is currently the Chair of the department of Applied Linguistics and the Chair of the Educational Studies Department at the American University in Cairo. Her publications are in the field of applied and theoretical linguistics especially on grammatical theory and language variation.

Mary Tadros is a Senior Manager, Development, Recognition and eAssessment with the IB. She is a lead  IB educator with extensive experience as a workshop leader, consultant, team leader, visiting team chair  and  programme and evaluation leader for school evaluation visits. She also chairs New England Association of schools and colleges (NEASC) visiting teams to accredit schools internationally.

She worked at the Amman Baccalaureate School for 25 years and the last two posts held were head of senior school and head of Middle Years School.

She worked for two years as the senior education advisor at  the office of her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdulla and for 12 years Academic Programs Advisor for Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) working on Pre-Service and In-Service teacher education programmes in Jordan and the region.

David Wilmsen holds a PhD in Arabic language and linguistics from the University of Michigan. He has spent most of his career teaching in and directing Arabic study-abroad programs at the American University of Sharjah, the American University of Beirut, the American University in Cairo, and Georgetown University, teaching Arabic as a foreign language, and topics in Arabic/English translation and Arabic linguistics. He is co-editor and contributor to the recent Cambridge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics. He is now retired from full-time teaching and living in Amman, Jordan

Ahmed Alahmadi an ACS Alum, is the Chief Executive Officer of Albaher Real Estate Development and Managing Director of Shuaa Capital psc. With extensive experience in managing diversified portfolios, Ahmed has played a key role in overseeing significant financial and real estate assets in the region. He has also led complex M&A transactions and strategic advisory projects, working with high-profile clients and institutions across the GCC.

In addition to his corporate roles, Ahmed has served as a Board Director for SHUAA Capital and Dana Gas PJSC, and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee for Presight AI Holding PLC. His work in these positions highlights his expertise in governance, risk management, and financial strategy. Ahmed holds a First-Class Honours degree in Chemical Engineering from University College London, a Master’s in Risk Management and Financial Engineering from Imperial College London, and is a CFA charter holder.