In Memoriam: Alumna Nour Salman

In Memoriam: Alumna Nour Salman

A prominent academic, activist and author leaves a legacy of literary works and advocacy for women and children’s rights.

This month, the LAU community was saddened by the loss of alumna Nour Salman (AA ‘50), a prominent alumna and laureate who was the President of the Lebanese Child Welfare Association and the National Association for Child Care in Lebanon and had served on the boards of several cultural and social associations.

Born in Lebanon in 1937, Dr. Salman graduated from Beirut College for Women—as LAU was known back then—with an associate degree in Arabic Literature. She went on to earn a graduate degree in comparative literature from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and a PhD in Arabic Literature from Saint Joseph University.

Dr. Salman authored several published fiction titles, short stories and poetry that were featured in literature journals. As a scholar, she also taught at the Lebanese University and published research on the Arabic language. She also published at least 16 books on Islamic Sufism, Algerian literature and the role of women in development. Her writings have been translated to French, English, Chinese and Russian.

In an interview with Al Raida journal on her book Ila Rajol Lam Ya’ati—To A Man Who Never Was, Dr. Salman spoke about defying tradition by becoming a writer. “My father always warned me of the problems that face women who choose writing as a career in this part of the world, but I believe that rationalization is not the only means of finding truth, and my perspective of life is very analytical, skeptical and intuitive,” she said, adding: “I think that one cannot gain without losing and I am more than ready to pay the price.”

She was also an active supporter of peacemaking through education, where she advocated for educational policy reform to “promote peace and not wars,” as she had argued as a guest panelist on the AUB campus in 1990.

Dr. Salman was the daughter of another prominent child welfare activist and alumna Zahieh Maksad Salman (‘30), a visionary and pioneer who had founded free-of-charge day care centers for working women across Lebanon, shortly after her graduation from the American Junior College for Women.

“Dr. Nour Salman’s contributions to literature and society,” said LAU Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations Abdallah Al Khal, “will continue to inspire for generations to come.”