The TrEd Generation: Where Are They Now? TrEd alumni shaping the future

Since its founding in 2011, the Transformative Education (TrEd) program at the American University of Beirut (AUB) has launched numerous initiatives that have engaged hundreds of students through mentoring, research, competitions, outreach, and experiential learning. In June 2026, TrEd celebrated another generation of students, recognizing 39 members from diverse majors whose experiences within the program prepared them to take on roles as leaders and mentors within their communities. 

At its core, TrEd was conceived around the idea that education should extend beyond individual achievement to create a culture where students learn from and support one another. As Dr. Bilal Kaafarani, Professor of Chemistry at AUB and founder of TrEd, explains: “Education is often treated as a race: competitive, individual, and finite. Listening to students changed the story. They didn't want a race, but a relay: shared, continuous, and meaningful.” 

With generations of TrEd students now graduating and pursuing diverse paths beyond and within AUB, the impact of the program is beginning to emerge, and the strength of its network is taking shape. 

Before TrEd

Before there was a TrEd team as students know it today, there were simply a handful of students saying yes to an idea whose future they could not yet imagine. One of them was Dr. Khalil Chahine, now an obstetrician-gynecologist and among the first students to become involved in what would later grow into TrEd.

More than fifteen years later, Dr. Chahine admits that students at the time did not see themselves as building a program. “In its early days, we really didn't see it as a program,” he recalled. “Looking back at the first event in 2011, and looking at what it has evolved to, gives me a feeling of awe. I did not realize at the time that we were planting a seed that would grow to provide so much fruit and sustenance for so many students.”

What drew him back was not a mission statement or plan, but the people. “It was the fun and excitement we had in the prior events,” he said. “Gathering people in similar walks of life as you, from different universities, even different countries, and having a great time.”

Of all the memories he carries from those early years, one remains especially vivid. Dr. Chahine recalls an event in 2011 honoring the late Dr. Makhlouf Haddadin, Dr. Kaafarani's professor and mentor. More than a decade later, he still remembers the emotion of the moment and the gratitude it embodied. “This gesture is what I carry on,” he said. “The act of gratitude to a professor, loyalty to a mentor, and kindness to a colleague.”

Watching new generations of students join the program, Dr. Chahine sees a continuity that has grown far beyond its origins as a chemistry competition. “It was never really about chemistry,” he reflected. “It has always been about people and bringing them together.” Current members may not yet realize the impact of what they are building, he added, but “surely they are impacting not only themselves, but many, many others.”

Students and guests during the Dr. Makhlouf Haddadin Lecture (2023).

Opening Doors

TrEd was still relatively new when Dr. Lana Khalil joined the team. She was a premedical student at the time, surrounded by the usual pressure to study, prepare for exams, and move on to the next course. TrEd offered another type of experience. “What initially drew me to TrEd was its unique vision of education beyond the classroom,” she said. “It’s the first of its kind, not only in Lebanon but the whole region.”

That difference became more clear when Dr. Bilal Kaafarani encouraged her to take on the coordinator role during the 2013-2014 academic year. She credits much of that confidence to the way he worked with students. “His energy, commitment to students, and genuine belief in our potential were incredibly inspiring,” she said. “He created an environment where students felt empowered to take initiative, think creatively, and pursue ambitious ideas.”

Through TrEd, Dr. Khalil had the chance to conduct research at Massachusetts General Hospital under the mentorship of Dr. Haytham Kaafarani. The experience introduced her to a different academic environment and gave her the opportunity to work closely with a mentor whose approach to leadership she admired. “He invested in people, recognized potential before individuals recognized it in themselves, and created opportunities for growth,” she said. That way of mentoring became a model she draws on in her own work with colleagues, trainees, and teams.

The connections and experiences she gained through TrEd also influenced the opportunities she pursued after graduation. She started looking for roles where she could contribute as a physician-scientist while also developing as a leader. In that sense, TrEd did not point her toward one particular path; it gave her a wider sense of what that path could look like.

Today, she sees the same possibility in the students joining the team. The projects may change, but the purpose, she believes, has not. “The heart of TrEd remains its commitment to empowering students to discover their potential and become leaders who create meaningful impact.”

Her own experience is perhaps best summed up in the way she describes the people behind the program: “TrEd was far more than a student program; it is a transformative community led by mentors like Dr. Kaafarani who believed in students, opened doors for them, and helped shape the leaders they would become.”

The Relay Begins 

For Bashir Ismail, a first-year medical student at AUB’s Faculty of Medicine, that relay began long before he officially joined TrEd. As a child, he attended ChemCarnival, an annual AUB science outreach event that brings chemistry to life through interactive experiments and demonstrations, alongside his mother, and was captivated by the way science could be transformed into an interactive experience. 

“What first drew me to TrEd was ChemCarnival,” Ismail recalled. “I was always fascinated by how science could be made so exciting and engaging. When I finally had the opportunity to be part of the team organizing that same event, I applied immediately because I wanted to experience what happened behind the scenes and help create that same sense of wonder for others.” 

Years later, Ismail found himself on the other side of that experience, helping organize the very event that had once inspired him. His journey reflects what TrEd believes: students are not only recipients of education, but contributors to it, passing their experiences forward to others. 

During his time at AUB, he served as a University Student Faculty Committee (USFC) representative, where he credits his experiences in TrEd with teaching him to think about the impact of his decisions. 

“Good leadership is not about trying to do everything,” he said. “It's about identifying what will create the greatest impact, setting priorities, and making thoughtful decisions when resources are limited.” For Ismail, TrEd also reinforced the value of stepping beyond the classroom. Reflecting on an AI in Medicine workshop organized by TrEd, he described how these experiences broadened his understanding of what university education could offer. “I became a strong advocate for getting involved in student life because I realized that university is about much more than earning a degree,” he said. 

Dr. Kaafarani describes this as one of the central outcomes of transformative education: “Students gain not only skills but agency.” That sense of agency helped Ismail realize that he did not have to wait until becoming a professional to make a meaningful impact.  

ChemCarnival, May 23, 2026.

What We Pass On 

Likewise, Yara Feghali, a TrEd alumna who also participated in the ChemCarnival, remembers the event for its sense of wonder. “As a child, I always loved fairytales and magic,” she recalled. “Doing ChemCarnival was the closest way to feel magical.” Watching the colors unfold and the children react, she wasn't sure “who was more amazed– the children or me.” 

However, Feghali experienced another pillar of TrEd’s philosophy through her work as a tutor: mentorship. As Dr. Kaafarani puts it, “Mentorship is not a feature of TrEd. It is its infrastructure.” 

Now a third-year medical student at AUB's Faculty of Medicine with an interest in obstetrics and gynecology, Feghali first joined TrEd after being invited by Dr. Kaafarani to tutor Organic Chemistry clinics. She was unfamiliar with the initiative at the time, but trusted that joining a program led by someone so passionate about teaching would be a defining experience. 

Her time in TrEd changed her perspective on teaching. “I realized that teaching was not just about knowing the material well enough to explain it,” she said. “It was also about being able to identify where students were struggling, which I was able to do because I was in their shoes just a year prior.” 

Today, she carries those lessons of mentorship and teamwork into the hospital. “Being part of TrEd is being part of a team. We relied on each other and trusted each other,” she said. “In the hospital, it is the same experience. I’m grateful to TrEd for teaching me the value of teamwork early on.” TrEd also shaped the kind of physician she hopes to become. “Even if I cannot yet make all the medical decisions, I can still make a difference in how a patient experiences their day,” she said. 

Her journey affirms Dr. Kaafarani’s vision of TrEd: “Many students return as mentors, reinforcing a self-sustaining cycle.”

The TrEd team, September 20, 2025.

Across the Disciplines 

A Nobel Laureate, the president of Boston University, and a team of undergraduate students sitting down to write the words that would introduce them. For Adam Serhal, these were not distant figures to be admired from a lecture hall. Through TrEd's Research and Writing Team, they became part of his education. “I was drawn to TrEd because of the ChemCarnival and the different mentoring talks Dr. Kaafarani organized, the Nobel Laureate, everything honestly,” Serhal said. What made the program different, he felt, was the access it created. “It was a novel thing that was not present in clubs or societies.” That access eventually led Serhal to the Research and Writing Team, where the work was as much about thinking as it was about writing. As head of the team, he helped turn scattered ideas into finished projects– dividing responsibilities, bringing sections together, editing drafts and questioning whether every word belonged. His first project, writing the opening remarks for the president of Boston University, taught him something beyond the speech itself: how to take a large idea and build a process around it. 

The lesson followed him into the way he worked with others. Biology students approached a question differently from chemistry students; students from the Faculty of Health Sciences brought perspectives of their own. “It taught me different perspectives that I didn't know existed,” he said. But perhaps the most unexpected lesson was that science did not have to remain inside its own boundaries. Serhal describes TrEd as a place where Dr. Kaafarani did not separate students by whether they were scientists or creatives, but instead asked what each person could bring. Serhal now sees creativity and science as belonging in the same room–something he had once taken for granted.

 

That idea is one he will carry with him into medical school. Alongside the discipline of hard work and the importance of mentorship, Serhal says TrEd taught him to approach science creatively–to look beyond what is already there and consider what else could be possible.

Former French Minister of Education, H. E. Najat Belkacem with members of the TrEd team at AUB.

Holding The BatonWhile Dr. Chahine witnessed the first seeds of TrEd being planted, Ahmad Akhdar has had a front-row seat to what those seeds have become. As the program's most recent coordinator, he sees TrEd as a place where students discover what they are capable of.

“I would describe it as a place where students are trusted with opportunities that will make them explore what they are truly capable of,” he said. For Akhdar, the defining word in Transformative Education is transformative itself. “It asks a very important question: What would happen when you give a student the space for innovation, mentorship, and responsibility to turn an idea into a meaningful learning experience?”

Over the years, that philosophy has taken many forms, from mentoring talks, competitions, Medical Research Volunteer Program (MRVP), career chats, ChemCarnival, and many other inspiring initiatives. While the projects may appear different on the surface, Akhdar believes they are all driven by the same purpose. “You do not join TrEd simply to attend nice events,” he said. “You join with the intention of discovering what you are truly capable of, and providing other students with opportunities to do so.”

Looking back on his experience as coordinator, Akhdar says the role reshaped his understanding of leadership. “It is tempting to think that now you must have all the answers, make the decisions, or be that one person everyone looks up to,” he explains. Rather than having all the answers, he learned that leadership is about creating an environment in which others can thrive. “One of the most powerful things a leader can say is not ‘you have to do it this way,’ but ‘I trust you, take this idea and make it yours.’”

That spirit is perhaps most visible in ChemCarnival. While visitors see the experiments, crowds, and excitement, Akhdar sees something else: “at the same time, the students behind it are transforming as well,” he reflected. “They become better communicators, problem-solvers, teammates, and leaders, often discovering abilities they didn't know they had.”

However, the greatest change he has witnessed is not in any single event but in the students themselves. New members often arrive looking for reassurance that they are doing things the “right” way. By the time they graduate, many have become the people proposing ideas, leading projects, and shaping the future of the program. “They are not students who simply participated in TrEd,” Akhdar said. “They helped shape it.” He believes that “the sense of knowing that what they built will benefit the students who come after them is something they carry with them well beyond their time in TrEd.”

Raya Abirached, Dr. Bilal Kaafarani, and the TrEd team after the mentoring talk “Nothing Comes Easy” (2018). 

The Finish Line Was Never the Point In addition to pursuing their own studies and careers, TrEd students carry what they learned into the communities around them. The experiences of Bashir, Yara, and Adam point to an impact that leaves students with lessons in leadership, mentorship, teamwork, creativity, and the confidence to act on what they have learned

As Dr. Kaafarani puts it, “Knowledge is not treated as an endpoint but as something designed to move from mentor to student, from student to community and from one generation to the next.” 

Below the surface of achievements, a quiet revolution, already more than a decade old and still gathering momentum, is gradually shaping generations of TrEd students, who carry the relay forward through their own journeys. The revolution is far from complete. It has only begun. 

Students here have a great opportunity to really make some changes that the

y can’t make if they’re in a classroom. That can’t happen unless they’re in a program like TrEd.

To learn more about TrEd’s initiatives and follow its latest updates, visit TrEd’s website.