Arabic-L:GEN:Waheed Samy

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Mon 14 Mar 2011
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dil at byu.edu>
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1) Subject: Waheed Samy

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1)
Date: 14 Mar 2011
From: Muhammad Eissa <eissa at comcast.net>
Subject: Waheed Samy

Hearing the news of of Waheed's loss stunned me and almost paralyzed my brain. I spent the night I heard the news in surreal dialogue with him; speaking of his latest pedagogical ideas, joking and exchanging social news. I could not write about his departure from this world simply because I could not easily accept or believe it. 

The three years I spend in Ann Arbor he was the closest person to me in the town. We shared and exchanged multiple sorts of personal, professional activities.  You will be greatly missed, Waheed. My personal and family condolences to Waheed's family in the States and in Egypt. The profession has lost a trowing figure about whom I can not find better, more sincere and eloquently expressed paragraphs than those written by Dr. Zeinab Taha. God bless you all. 
Muhammad Eissa; Ph. D.
President, Eissa & Associates, INC.

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1)
Date: 14 Mar 2011
From: kassem wahba <kassem_wahba at yahoo.com>
Subject: Waheed Samy

It is  with great sadness that I, too, express my condolences for the loss of  
our colleague and friend, Waheed Samy. My relationship with Waheed Samy  dates 
back to the late seventies, when I  first left Alexandria for Cairo. I met 
Waheed at AUC; he  had just finished his Master's in teaching Arabic as a 
foreign language, and I was just about to start my own. In  many ways, he was a 
mentor for me during those years, but it became  clear that he was also a model 
human being-- a great friend, a great  teacher, an excellent administrator, and 
a superb scholar. Over time I have learned more from him than I can ever  
convey, and I would not be exaggerating if I were to say that while I  have met 
many wonderful colleagues in the teaching field, Waheed  was  truly unique. He 
was vibrant, hard-working, smart, humorous, gentle, kind, and ever a pleasure to 
be around. I was lucky that my friendship with Waheed was not limited to our 
time at AUC; it later extended to the USA, when he moved to Ann Arbor. Looking 
back, I remember that when Waheed left AUC, many of his colleagues were very 
unhappy. Without a doubt, he left a huge, empty space over there-- just as he 
has now.
As a  scholar, Waheed contributed  much to the field of teaching Arabic as a 
foreign language. In addition to establishing an Arabic language  
computer-assisted learning unit at AUC, he wrote several scholarly  articles; 
one of them, published in 2006, discussed the intricacies of  using media in 
Arabic language instruction, an area of research that was in desperate need of 
attention. He also participated in many  workshops and seminars at institutions 
like Georgetown University, and his talks  covered a range of topics. I remember 
his great talk at the Arabic  language and K-12 education seminar in 2006, and 
specifically, his discussion of the  definition of Modern Standard Arabic. In 
2007, Waheed came to Georgetown and talked about the role of culture in teaching 
and learning Arabic, and just last year Waheed presented a paper at GURT 2010 in 
which he discussed the use of the colloquial and fuSha in the Arabic classroom.
It  seemed as though Waheed was always on top of developments in the field,  
ever engaged in the intellectual activity that keeps the field robust.  He was 
involved in numerous projects-- most recently writing a book  about Arabic 
grammar-- and yet he was always willing to assist other  students and scholars 
in their own work. I am saddened, and I am sure many others are as well, by the 
loss of this imminent scholar and wonderful friend. 
I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.

Kassem Wahba
Arabic and Islamic Studies
Georgetown University

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