04/05/2004
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Sydney, Australia
Thank you for the great honor you do me and for the special privilege of standing before you at this special moment of renewal and transition. Perennial as the grass, graduations celebrate achievement and promote transition. To the graduates, our speeches today must both help and challenge you as you embark on your new journey of
19/04/2004
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Alexandria
Jointly sponsored by the Academy of the Latinity and the BA, a conference on “Hegemony And Identity In The Age Of Globalization” was launched at the BA. Inaugurated by a long slide-supported presentation by Serageldin who presented an analysis of the cultural dynamics in the world of Muslim societies undergoing rapid transformations, the conference brought together many of the most eminent names in the field of the social sceines and the humanities ...
06/04/2004
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Alexandria
Three days of high-level discussions at the BA were capped by Serageldin’s closing statement, which was an impassioned defense of the scientific enterprise. The conference was organized in partnership with BioVision (Lyon) the initiator of the world life sciences forum since 1999. The conference as a whole was lauded by the participants, who found the frank and in-depth discussions to be very useful.
02/04/2004
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Alexandria
Nobel Day was inaugurated by the Prime Minister and featured lectures by four eminent Nobel Laureates: Profs. Zewail, Lehn, Noyori and Rowland. The day was capped by a roundtable discussion moderated by Ismail Serageldin, who got the laureates into the discussion of the nature of science and the type of imagination that goes into scientific discovery as well as the responsibility of scientists to society.
02/04/2004
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Alexandria
Meetings of the BA’s Board of Trustees were held in Alexandria and reflected well on the enormous progress achieved in establishing the BA and pushing it towards becoming a true Center of excellence. The Board also authorized the release of the first Annual Report of the BA.
31/03/2004
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Alexandria
A two-day brainstorming conference organized by William A. Wulf, President of the National Academy of Engineering and comprising such luminaries as Michael Keller of Stanford and Sid Karin of San Diego, spent two days building scenarios for the future of digital libraries and where the BA should be positioned in such a future.
29/03/2004
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Alexandria
The annual conference celebrating the Bard of Avon included film showings in Arabic and English, and a superb one day symposium featuring Prof. Kiernan Ryan, who delivered two spectacular lectures, Dr. Azza Karrara who participated by video and read sonnet 66 in Arabic and English with a brief commentary and visuals, and finally Ismail Serageldin who delivered a wide-ranging discussion of Hamlet, tribal story telling, Imru’u Al-Qais classic Arabic poem and even Racine’s Phaedra in French.
17/03/2004
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Alexandria
Conventional economic analysis came in for a thorough critique in the opening speech of Ismail Serageldin, who quoted chapter and verse and showed many compelling graphs to highlight the need for a thorough revision of conventional economic analysis methodologies to incorporate the insights of the leading thinkers in environmental economics. The speech was very well received by the participants.
16/03/2004
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Alexandria
The First Lady inaugurated the Book Fair of the BA. The fair which is launched in collaboration with the Arab Publishers’ Union. Serageldin approved he cultural program and delegated the responsibility to colleagues at the BA. He declared himself delighted with the results.
16/03/2004
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Alexandria
The Conference of the National Women’s Council concluded on a high note as Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak gave a rousing endorsement of the NWC’s declaration as well as the Alexandria Document of the Arab Reform Forum (ARF). She specifically thanked Ismail Serageldin for his efforts on that forum and generally in support of women’s issues.
15/03/2004
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Alexandria
The Directors of the leading research institutes of the francophone world met at the Senghor University auditorium for a two day conference and Ismail Serageldin delivered an eloquent critique of the prevalent analytical methodologies used in social science research in relation to development issues. The participants were very interested by the long and thoughtful presentation and engaged in a lively Q&A after the presentation.
15/03/2004
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Alexandria
The Conference on Arab reform came to an end with a proposing a follow-up mechanism involving the creation of an Arab Reform Forum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Ismail Serageldin immediately surprised all the participants by declaring his immediate adherence to this recommendation, and the young and dynamic team at the BA immediately implemented the action by launching the website www.arabreformforum.org ...
14/03/2004
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Alexandria
The Conference on Arab reform came to an end with a resounding endorsement of the "The Alexandria Document March 2004" . In an unprecedented process of participatory democratic decision-making, all 170 participants in the conference actively joined in the discussions and drafting of the document. A committee of 28 persons did the final drafting, most of whom appeared on stage as Serageldin read the final version which was approved by acclamation.
12/03/2004
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Alexandria
In a surprise move to many, President Mohamed Hosny Mubarak came to inaugurate The on Arab Reform Conference organized by Ismail Serageldin and his colleagues at the Library of Alexandria with the co-sponsorship of the Arab Business Council, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology (AAST), The Arab Womens Council, and the Economic Research Forum, and the Arab Organization fro Human Rights.
26/02/2004
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Washington DC,
While in Washington to discuss joint programs with the Academies of Science and of Engineering, Serageldin – at the behest of Ambassador Nabil Fahmy -- met with many members of the Washington Establishment. Ambassador Fahmy knew of the widespread interest of many in Washington to know more about the Arab Reform Conference being organized for the 12-14 March 2004 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
23/02/2004
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Cairo
The Institut d’Egypte, founded in1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the oldest scientific academy outside of Europe, today welcomed into its ranks Ismail Serageldin and several other new members. At 59, Ismail Serageldin is one of the youngest members of this venerable academy. Addressing a packed hall, Serageldin gave a magisterial lecture on the new scientific revolution and the challenges it posed, illustrating his theme with the many slides we have become accustomed to see him deploy, but reinforcing his words with the important InterAcademy Council report on capacity building.
22/02/2004
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Alexandria and Cairo
In a whirlwind of activity, fast and furious even by the standards of Ismail Serageldin’s usual diversified and packed schedule, Serageldin went from management reviews within the library, to speaking at a celebration on the Arabic language with the minister of education and the governor of Alexandria, to giving awards to children who excelled in Arabic, to a meeting with the President and eminent persons of Alexandria University to present a lengthy lecture to engage them more fully with the upcoming biology conference in April, to a meeting with the Arab organizing committee for the Arab Reform Conference ...
21/02/2004
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Cairo
Appearing as the sole guest on the important Arab TV program “On the Air” with distinguished media personality Emad Eddin Adeeb as host, Ismail Serageldin fielded questions form Adeeb and telephone callers for 90 minutes. The topic was as expected, the Alexandria Arab Reform Conference.
20/02/2004
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Alexandria
After two days of hectic meetings and impassioned discussion, participants in the preparatory meeting involving the Egyptian civil society activists writers and intellectuals came to a broad consensus on how to amend the first outline of the paper circulated by Ismail Serageldin in preparation to the Arab civil society meeting to take place in 12-14 March 2004 at the Library of Alexandria.
20/02/2004
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Cairo
The Al-Ahram Weekly yesterday published an article by the name “More than a building”, which reviews the story of the controversy of “the Protocols of the Elders of Zion” noting the remarkable and happy ending to this sad tale, which showed that the Library was in its short existence (barely a year old, inaugurated in October 2002) had become the key focal point that rallied many voices of tolerance and rationality in Egypt.