Birth: 1/1/1934 Death:NULL/NULL/NULL
Born in Nablus in 1934; received his early education at An-Najah School in Nablus; left in 1952 aboard a ship from Beirut to the US to pursue his higher education; graduated with a BA in Petroleum Geology from the University of Texas in 1955 and with an MA in Geology and Government from Sul Ross University in 1956; returned, moved between Nablus and Jordan and worked as a geologist for a petroleum company; established at the same time the Engineering and Geological Services office in Jordan in 1956, developing it over the years into an international conglomerate involved in contracting, industrial development, trading, project development, project finance etc. (today’s EDGO Management Group); has been its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since; began a career of establishing large enterprises in various countries around the world; became Pres. of the Phillips Petroleum company’s office in Algeria in the early 1960s, where he also first met Yasser Arafat and got involved with Fateh; in 1963, joined the Jordanian government as a special consultant supervising the execution of major public projects in Jordan; returned to Phillips as head of the Beirut office; at the same time his own company operated successfully in Saudi Arabia and Dubai; was appointed as Jordanian Minister of Public Works in 1970-71; co-founder of the Welfare Association, Geneva, in 1983 and serves as one of its Vice-Chairmen since 2002; co-founded and served as Honorary Chairman of the Palestinian Community in the UK from 1991-93; returned to Nablus after the signing of the Oslo Accords; co-founded the Palestinian Development and Investment Co. (PADICO) in Nablus in 1994 and serves as its Chairman since; member of the PLO Central Council since 1996; has been involved in establishing the Al-Quds University Investment Fund; Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah; co-founder and Vice-Chairman of the Arab Medical Center in Jordan; (co-)sponsor of a number of academic and charitable organizations in Nablus, incl. establishing the Engineering and Technology College at An-Najah University (named after him); initiated the Nablus Rehabilitation Committee during the second Intifada (since Sept. 2000), aimed at rebuilding houses destroyed by the Israeli army; member of MAS, Ramallah; Board of Trustees member of Jordan Medical Aid for Palestine, the Shuman Foundation in Jordan, and the AUB (since 2000/01); Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Al-Quds University since 2001; Deputy Chairman of the Arab Bank plc., Chairman of its Audit Committee and Strategic Planning Committee, Vice-Chairman of its Corporate Control and General Policies Committee, as well as Board of Directors member and of several of its subsidiaries; member of the World Bank’s Council of Advisers for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region; founder and Director of the Munib Rashid Al-Masri Company for Development in Nablus.
