On June 15, 2026, thirty-nine pharmacy graduates gathered at the Byblos campus before their families, professors, and friends for the chance to be draped, one by one, in the regalia that officially designates them as Doctors of Pharmacy.

For the Class of 2026, the hooding was the culmination of perseverance through relentless instability and crises, and making it at all costs for exams, lab work, and clinical rotations.

So, when Dean Naser Zaki Alsharif rose to address them, he spoke to them as pharmacists and citizens of Lebanon. He emphasized that now more than ever, good citizenship is needed in Lebanon. He used Lebanon’s own mountains, rivers, cities, and cedar trees as a metaphor for endurance, providing knowledge and care in all their setting, embracing the diversity of the country and always anchored in values and ethics, respectively.

He reminded the graduates that the patients waiting for them on the other side of that stage would come from every background, every faith, every corner of a fractured country, and that none of it should matter.

“Pain has no religion and disease has no sect,” he said, urging them to see humanity before identity, emphasizing “that is citizenship at its finest.”

“As citizens and pharmacists, you can impact the rebuilding of our Lebanon on a new footing by always asking, ‘What can I do for my country?’ not ‘What can my country do for me?’” he added.

Dr. Abdulrahman Merkbawi (BS ’06), an LAU alumnus who now leads the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists, understood something about that path, having sat where they were sitting. Returning to his alma mater, he spoke about the lasting relationships cultivated at LAU: the classmates who become colleagues, the mentors whose lessons keep on resonating outside the classroom, and the friendships that continue to grow.

Dr. Merkbawi encouraged the graduates to embrace new opportunities across the profession, while exhorting them to let compassion and character guide their decisions. “Behind every prescription is a human being,” he said. “Never underestimate the power of your words, your empathy, and your integrity.”

In her address, valedictorian Anna Maria Bou Gharios reflected on the shared experience of the Class of 2026 and how resilience, more than any single class or clinical rotation, had been the true curriculum of those years.

“Our path has been anything but easy,” she said. “We lived through uncertainties, hard times, and war. Yet every obstacle became another reason to keep moving forward,” she added, thanking the mentors, preceptors, and families for their unfailing support.

Encouraging her classmates to measure success not only by their professional achievements but in the lives they touch along the way, she asked them to “choose to be the light that others need.”

One by one, the graduates crossed the stage to receive their hoods, before taking the Oath of the Pharmacist, administered by Assistant Dean Rafah Aboulhosn, that formally initiated them into the profession they had fought so hard to join.

The evening also honored two graduates of the PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program, with Assistant Dean Nibal R. Chamoun and Residency Program Director Carl Aoun both urging the new pharmacists to let determination, critical thinking, and compassion guide them as new technologies and challenges arise.

As Dr. Aoun told the graduates, patient care, leadership, lifelong learning, and teaching are not just residency requirements; they become habits that shape the kind of pharmacist each graduate will be throughout their career.

But perhaps no moment in the ceremony captured the spirit of the evening quite like the presentation of the Sara Khatib Inspiration Award, named for a beloved pharmacy student who lost her battle to cancer a decade ago. This year, the award went to brave cancer survivor Farah El Rayess, a Professional Year 3 student and longtime Lebanese Red Cross volunteer.

El Rayess told the room that there had been a moment, during her illness, when she realized giving up simply was not an option. “Cancer took away my sense of certainty,” she said, “but it gave me something far greater,” strengthening her resolve to build a life around service and showing up for others the way people had shown up for her.

Earlier this year, that same commitment earned her the United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Award for her work in community health and disaster preparedness.

Awards were also presented to outstanding PharmD and BS Pharmacy graduates in recognition of their academic excellence, clinical performance, professionalism, and contributions to the pharmacy community.

• Anna Maria Bou Gharios (PharmD ’26) received the Highest GPA Award in recognition of achieving the highest GPA among PharmD graduating students.

• Aya Alkork (BS ’26) received the Highest GPA Award for the BS Pharmacy graduating class and the Therapeutics Award for the best academic performance in the Pharmacotherapeutics series.

• Evelyna Fares (BS ’26) received the Student Outreach Award for her leadership and involvement in community engagement activities, projects, and initiatives that promote pharmacy awareness, outreach services, and public health.

• Abdo El Hayek (PharmD ’26) received the Student Clinical Excellence Award for demonstrating outstanding clinical knowledge, practice skills, and professional standards during P4 clinical clerkship rotations.

• Larissa Faddoul (PharmD ’26) and Aya El Kurdy (BS Pharmacy ’26) received the Student Professionalism Award for demonstrating outstanding professionalism in character and behavior throughout their courses and clerkship rotations.

• Sarah Zeidan (PharmD ’26) received the Pharmacy Curricular Exit Exam (PCEE) Award for achieving the highest grade on the PCEE, an assessment tool that measures students’ performance across various content areas of the program.

Class representatives from the P1, P2, P3, and P4 cohorts received certificates of appreciation in recognition of their contributions, while faculty members were also recognized for their outstanding service and achievements.

• Dr. Lamis Karaoui, assistant dean for student affairs, who emceed the event, received the Teaching Excellence Award in recognition of her exceptional dedication to effective teaching, commitment to student-centered learning, and contributions to students’ growth, development, and overall academic experience.

• Dr. Mohammad Mroueh, professor and graduate program coordinator, was recognized as the Elected Faculty Member.