Lara Hanna-Wakim is the Director of the USEK Continuing Learning Center. She served as the Vice-Director for the Higher Center for Research from 2019 to 2021 and as Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences from 2013 to 2019.

She is the first scientist in the MENA region to be elected as Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology. She represented the MENA region as a regular member at the Governing Council of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) from 2014 to 2018 and has been serving at the IUFoST Taskforce on Food Systems and COVID-19 since 2019. She is also the Co-Chair of the IUFoST Working Group on Food and Nutrition Security and serves as a member of the IUFoST Codex Committee.

With nearly 15 years of experience in Learning and Leadership Development, Lara is serving as Senior International Officer (SIO) at the Academy of Leaders in International Higher Education (AIEA), Duke University, North Carolina, USA. She is also the Executive Consultant of STOCHOS, Sydney, Australia, and a member of the International Advisory Council at Human Health Education and Research Foundation (HHERF), UK.

Lara is currently the National Coordinator of the “Faith for Earth Initiative” at the United Nations for Environment Program (UNEP) and a member of the Patriarchal Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development, Lebanese Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch.

Her passion for serving communities began in 2008 when she worked as Strategy Food Safety Consultant at the Emirates Institute for Health and Safety in Abu Dhabi, UAE. She has served as well as the Focal Point of the Arab States Green University Network at UNEP and as a National Food Safety Expert at UNIDO.

Lara has acted as Vice-President of the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations in Agriculture and Life Sciences (GCHERA), USA, in 2015. She is a member of the National Advisory Board related to the WaterMedYin Project and is currently the National Contact Point (NCP) for “Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials” for the EU Commission within Horizon 2020 Framework Programs.

Lara is a prolific scholar who has authored over 30 articles, 8 book chapters, 1 book in highly selective indexed journals and publishers. She has an extensive record of 80 participations in international conferences as keynote speaker and has served on the editorial boards of many leading academic journals in Sustainable Food Engineering Systems and Global Food Security.

Lara has been honored at the Lebanese Parliament, as Women Leader in Lebanese Universities and Research Pioneers by the National Initiative for the Centennial of Greater Lebanon. She has also been honored by the Lebanese Minister of Agriculture for her major accomplishments and outstanding leadership and performance, and for obtaining the American accreditation ABET for the Diploma of Agricultural Engineering at USEK, the first in the MENA region.

EDUCATION

• PhD in Sustainable Food Engineering Systems and Global Food Security, AgroParis Tech – France
• MS in Food Quality Assurance and Management, NAP-G - FranceDiploma in Agricultural Engineering, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) – Lebanon
• MS in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Norwich University – USA
• Diploma in Senior International Officer (SIO), Duke University – USA
• MA/PG Diploma in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Chester – UK