December 1, 2015, Cairo – The Board of Trustees (BOT) of the American University in Cairo (AUC) announced today the appointment of Trustee Thomas E. Thomason as interim president of the University starting January 2016 until the end of the academic year. Current AUC President Lisa Anderson will step down at the end of December 2015. According to Richard Bartlett, chairman of AUC’s BOT, the process for selecting a new president is well underway with several strong candidates identified by the search committee. “As the search process will last beyond the end of December and the selected candidate may not be able to start at AUC immediately, we decided to appoint an interim president,” he said.
Thomason received his undergraduate degree and Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas at Austin and has served as an AUC trustee since 1996. He lived in Cairo from 1994 to 2014, before returning to his home in Washington, D.C. While living in Egypt, Thomason served as senior regional executive for the engineering and construction firm Bechtel, general manager for the Sidi Krir power plant and most recently as chief executive officer for the Egyptian Refining Company. He also served for many years on the boards of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt and the bi-national Fulbright Commission in Egypt.
Thomason has provided tremendous service to AUC throughout his long tenure on the board — most notably in his oversight of the design and construction of AUC New Cairo campus. He currently serves as chair of AUC trusteeship and facilities committees.
“With Tom’s extensive experience in Egypt and long-term commitment to AUC, he is ideally suited for the position of interim president. We are grateful to him for his willingness to accept this new role starting January 1, 2016,” Bartlett said.
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