University of Balamand
The University of Balamand (UOB; ) is a private institution, secular in its policies and approach to education. It welcomes faculty, students, and staff from all faiths and national or ethnic origins. The university is located in the northern district of El-Koura, Lebanon. It was founded by the Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch in 1988. The university's main campus is adjacent to Balamand Monastery, but it has two other campuses in Beirut: One is in Sin el Fil, which houses the majority of the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, and the other neighbors Saint George  Hospital in Achrafieh, which houses the faculty for medicine and medical sciences. It also has campuses in Akkar and Souk El Gharb. Formerly conceived as just a project in the Koura District, it fused administratively with the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) and St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology to become a full-blown university. The University of Balamand was founded by the Patriarch through the concept of a Kouranian engineer called "Elias Abi Chahine" of Amioun, in which the concept formed between years 1983 and 1987, in the midst of the Lebanese Civil War. The project started  soon after Governmental Clearance in 1988. As of 2014, the implementation of its Master Plan at the mount of long heritage, Balamand, proceeds steadily. Name. Local legend in Lebanon reports that when Bohemond VII of Antioch escaped Latakia after it was taken by Qalawun in 1287, he hid in the village of Toula, Batroun, in the Northern Lebanese mountains. Legend has it that he lived there for a while, and produced offspring, from which the Prince, Conte, Zeeni and Aboujaoude families claim descent. The Balamand Monastery in Batroun is reputed a gift of the Prince's family, and now hosts  the major University of Balamand, Balamand being a local adaptation of Bohemond. Faculties. The university consists of 12 faculties, and they are as follows: Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (French and English) St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology (Arabic, English and Spanish) Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Arabic, English and French) Faculty of Business and Management (English) School of Tourism and Hotel Management (English) Faculty of Sciences (English) Faculty of Engineering (English) Faculty of Health Sciences (English) Saint George's Postgraduate Medical Education (English) Faculty of Medicine & Medical Sciences (English) Issam M. Fares Institute of Technology (English and French ) Faculty of Library and Information Studies(English) There are also further expansion plans, including: Buildings under construction. On the Main Campus: On the Souk El Gharb Campus: “In 2014, the University of Balamand and the Dubai Investment Group agreed on terms to open a university in the Dubai Investment Park so as to serve Dubai's growing population with state of the art education. Details of this project are still under study with a master plan slated to be ready by 2015.”