Since at least 1910, Egyptian students have been attending the University of Illinois. Early Egyptian Illini have included agriculturalists, athletes, business administrators, chemical engineers, civil engineers, doctors, electrical engineers, linguists, politicians, and student leaders too.

Read on to learn about more early Egyptian Illini!

Early Illinois – Egyptian Connections

A review of the Board of Trustees proceedings (Record Series 1/1/802) yields multiple instances of emerging connections between the University and Egypt. For academic year 1946-1947, Associate Professor Dr. Fred C. Hood and American University in Cairo Professor Amir Boktor exchanged positions for one school year. [1] For academic year 1953-1954, Geography Professor Fred W. Foster received a Fulbright award for his research in Egypt. [2] Later, throughout the 1970s, Plant Pathology Professor James B. Sinclair (Record Series 8/13/21) could be found working with colleagues in Egypt. While in 1978, a USAID grant funded the study of soybeans and other oil-seed crops in Egypt. [3] More Illinois – Egyptian connections have continued since then, of course; but, let’s talk about the students too.

Students

Perhaps the earliest Illini to follow a career in Egypt was a graduate of the Class of 1892. In 1918, then University of Arizona Dean of the College of Agriculture and Illinois alumni Robert Humphrey Forbes, (B.S. Sciences, 1892; M.S. Chemistry, 1897) took a position as an agriculture consultant for the British Government in Egypt. Although he planned to stay for a year or two, as the story often goes, Dr. Forbes remained for over a decade in the service of the Societe Sultanienne d’Agriculture, before returning to the United States in retirement. [4]

Concurrent with the last years of Dr. Forbes’ work in Cairo, it was 1932 in Urbana-Champaign, when future Division of General Studies Director (1946-52) and History Professor (1951-56) Dr. Robert G. Bone (Record Series 15/13/39) (A.M. 1932; PhD 1937) finished his master’s thesis “A study of cotton as a factor in Egyptian history 1830-1930“.

And later, it was during the 1960s, when Egyptian student enrollment was on the rise, when the campus featured multiple greek letter organizations hosting Egyptian-themed events. Take for instance the 1960 Illio’s feature piece on Delta Sigma Phi (whose national logo included a Sphinx) which reported that the local chapter had acquired a stuffed alligator which was named “Pharaoh”. [5] Also during the 1960s, each spring, the local Acacia chapter decorated its house (then located at 501 East Daniel Street) to resemble an Ancient Egyptian court for their annual “Night on the Nile” party. [6] Unfortunately, no photos have been identified yet. And of course, since at least the early 1900s, students from “Egyptian Illinois” have been coming to campus too. So when did the first Egyptians come to campus?

The earliest Egyptian Illini might have been Mr. Izzet Basili Suryieh (B.S. Agriculture, 1914), of Mansoura. Unfortunately, Mr. Suryieh left little records behind–not even an Illio graduation photo. From the Alumni Record, we know that Mr. Suryieh was a graduate of the American University of Beirut and he gave at least one community talk about life in Egypt. In 1913, Mr. Suryieh and other students were invited by the Champaign Chamber of Commerce to give talks on commercial and social conditions abroad. After graduation, Mr. Suryieh traveled the U.S. for a year and a half, before taking a position at an agricultural experiment station in El Centro, California. [7]

About ten years later came Mr. Mohamed H. Genena, (B.S. Railway Civil Engineering, 1925), of Alexandria, who continued his studies in Illinois after beginning his career as a government engineer affiliated with an Egyptian railway company. With his previous education and work experience, Mr. Genena provided for local eyes a convenient window of insight into contemporary Egyptian society. At least three records of Mr. Genena’s campus talks about Egypt are documented. First, in November 1924, he was interviewed by the Daily Illini to comment on Egyptian-Sudanese-English foreign relations. Later, for the December 1924 Cosmopolitan Club holiday party, Mr. Genena with other students gave a panel talk “How Christmas is Spent in Our Country”. Then in May 1925, Mr. Genena gave a talk “Through Foreign Window Panes”. In December of that year, following graduation, Mr. Genena returned to Egypt.

Mr. Dikran S. Izmirlian, (B.A. Commerce, 1948), of Alexandria, we learn from student publications, was an active athlete. As a member of the multicultural Cosmopolitan Club, Mr. Izmirlian played for their intramural soccer team (November 1946). In fact, that year, with Mr. Izmirlian as a frequent lead scorer, the team had a twelve-game winning streak beating rivals including Chicago, the local Turkish team, the local Phi Gamma Delta chapter, and the Daily Illini team. In 1948, with multiple Cosmopolitan Club members, Mr. Izmirlian was one of the student organizers for the 1948 Spring Carnival too.

Mr. Elio E. Tarika (B.S. Chemical Engineering, 1949), of Cairo, emigrated to the United States in 1945. After completing his bachelor’s degree at Illinois, Mr. Tarika completed an M.B.A. at the University of Chicago before joining the Union Carbide Corporation where he remained until retirement. [8] In fact, as recently as 2001, the endowed Elio Eliakim Tarika Chair in Chemical Engineering was created at the time of his seventy-fifth birthday.

As a student, Mr. Tarika was a frequent campus speaker on Egypt, a student leader, and an athlete too. In April 1946, for the Brandeis Society, he gave a talk “My Latest Visit to Palestine”. Like Mr. Izmirlian, he was also a player on the Cosmopolitan Club soccer team too. By far, Mr. Tarika’s busiest, most documented year was his senior year. On a Thursday in January 1948, Mr. Tarika spoke before the local Champaign Kiwanis club, as part of panel talk “International Standing and Good Will”. The following day, another Egyptian student wrote a Letter to the Editor to respond in disagreement of Mr. Tarika’s reported talk. But Mr. Tarika might not have seen that editorial. That same day, during a particularly rough intramural soccer match, after another student had suffered a broken wrist, Mr. Tarika suffered a broken right leg. The following semester, Mr. Tarika was an organizer for the 1949 Chemical Engineering Group informal dance. In February 1949, he was engaged to Ms. Virginia Stevens. In April, Mr. Tarika was involved in an off-campus auto collision with another student Mr. Evald Anderson, the Daily Illini reported. Finally, at the end of his senior year, a Daily Illini reporter interview Mr. Tarika and three other foreign-born students for their first impressions of college of life in the United States.

Mr. Roger R. Yaminy (B.S. Electrical Engineering, 1963), of Cairo, left few records behind except one Daily Illini article announcing his induction into the National Engineering Honor Society Tau Beta Pi.

Meanwhile, some of the earliest graduate students have included Mr. Emil Bushra (M.S. Orthodontia, 1948), Mr. Mostafa Khalil Kamel Mostafa (M.S. Civil Engineering, 1948; PhD Civil Engineering, 1951), Mr. Khalil R. Ramzy, (M.S. Accountancy, 1949), Mr. Mohamed S. Amer (M.S. Pharmacology, 1960; PhD Pharmacology, 1962), Ms. Laila El-Fatatry (M.S. Pharmacognosy, 1961), and Mr. Atef Ebeid (PhD Business Administration, 1962).

After completing his bachelor’s of science at Fouad First University, Mr. Mostafa Khalil (later “Mustafa Khalil”) came to Illinois to continued his PhD in Civil Engineering. Dr. Khalil was active in student life as a speaker off campus and as a student leader too. From Daily Illini reporting, we know that Dr. Khalil was a guest speaker of the University Baptist Church in 1948. That same year, Evans Hall hosted a multi-cultural program featuring students from Chile, Egypt, Hungary, and India. Dr. Khalil and his wife gave a slideshow presentation about Egypt in the Evans Hall recreation room.

“No one is a foreigner in the field of knowledge” said Visiting French Professor E. A. I. Ehrhard, reported the Daily Illini, in 1949, before Dr. Khalil was inducted with 21 other students into the honorary fraternity Phi Kappa Epsilon. In 1951, Dr. Khalil gave a speech on Egyptian life and culture at the first Egyptian cultural night too (seen in the images below). After graduation, Dr. Khalil’s continued a long career in Egypt, culminating in becoming Prime Minister (1978-1980) and including helping negotiating the 1979 Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

After completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Cairo University, Mr. Atef Ebeid came to Illinois to complete his PhD in Business Administration, supported by the United Arab Republic. After graduation, Dr. Ebeid continued a long career in the Egyptian government, culminating in becoming Prime Minister of Egypt (1999-2004) and a later chairman of the Arab International Bank too.

Student publications give us a glimpse into Dr. Ebeid’s student life, and we learn that he was active in campus life too. Dr. Ebeid was president of the local chapter of the Organization of Arab Students (OAS). During his tenure in OAS, the seventh annual OAS convention was hosted in Urbana-Champaign (September 1958) and an eight-car parade was organized to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Libyan independence movement (October 1959). Dr. Ebeid was also a frequent community speaker on Egypt and its neighbors. For instance, two talks included “The Arab World: It’s Hopes and Values” for the First Congregational Church supper club (October 1960), and “The Syrian Revolt” for the YMCA and YWCA “Current Issues” series (October 1961).

Egyptian Nights

As Egyptian Illini enrollment continued to grow, the 1950s campus benefited from an annual series of Egyptian Night organized by students and hosted at the off-campus University YMCA.

Egyptian Night events included music, student speeches, movies, and of course food.

While recordings of Egyptian Nights may not exist, a great variety of promotional materials can be found in the University Archives. Please ask an archivist for assistance.

Are you an Egyptian Illini? Do you know someone who is? We’d like to hear from you! Please send us a message or leave a comment below. We want to include you and your story, as we celebrate the first 150 years of the University of Illinois.

Happy First 150 everyone!

(A special thank you to Illinois History graduate student Mr. Nathan Tye who identified and suggested the inclusion of Dr. Mustafa Khalil.)

References

[] As always, a special thank you to all students whose tireless work for student life and publications (many of which are available at the University Archives) help preserve the memories of Illini everywhere.

[1] Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, July 30, 1946, page 6, Record Series 1/1/802; October 30, 1947, pages 893-894.

[2] Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, September 23, 1953, page 1111, Record Series 1/1/802.

[3] Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, December 13, 1978, page 159, Record Series 1/1/802.

[4] “Robert Humphrey Forbes”, The Semi-Centennial Alumni Record of the University of Illinois, Edited by Franklin W. Scott, page 65.

[5] “Delta Sigma Phi Indicates Interest in Egypt and Music”, Illio, 1960, Volume 67, page 180.

[6] “Acacia”, Illio, 1962, Volume 69, page 371.

[7] “Izzet Basili Suryieh”, page 556; Illinois Agriculturalist, Volume XV, Number 2, November 1910, page 39; “Personals”, The Alumni Quarterly and Fortnightly Notes, November 1, 1916, page 91.

[8] “Elio Eliakim Tarika“, Naples Daily News, September 23, 2012.