Rashid Karami
Al-Manar University of Tripoli (MUT)'s establishment was first proposed in 1985, when the late Prime Minister Rashid Karami collaborated with educator Muhieddin Makkouk and a group of prominent Tripoli citizens on a project to meet the educational concerns of North Lebanon. In 1986 they formally established the "Al-Manar Society", a non-profit organization dedicated to providing quality education to students of North Lebanon and other regions of the Arab World. After the assassination of Rashid Karami, Prime Minister Omar Karami assumed the Chairmanship of "Al-Manar Society", and formed the first University Board of Trustees in 1990. The Board was chaired by Karami and involved 18 other members from Lebanon and the Arab World. MUT's current president is Sami Menkara.