The Accelerator’s namesake is Henry Habib, an outstanding teacher and a highly respected scholar who has been a full professor of Political Science since 1975.
He founded the Department of Political Science at Loyola College in 1961, prior to Loyola’s merger with Sir George Williams University as Concordia University in 1974. Habib became Chair of the Department of Political Science at Concordia University in 1982 and held that role until 1998. At present, he is a Governor Emeritus of the university’s Board of Governors.
Habib began his academic career at the American University of Beirut, then went on to become a respected authority on the politics of the Middle East. He was a visiting professor in Islamic Studies at McGill University and the University of Ottawa.
He inspired multiple generations, never hesitating to engage fully with students, mentoring them to success in academic and professional careers. Habib is remarkable among academics because he did not hesitate to step far beyond the campus to introduce students to experiences in the Middle East that were, and remain to this day, life-changing lessons that brought academic theory face-to-face with reality in the field.
