Elias Antoine Najjar
Lovingly known as “Doctor Elias”
23 January 1936 — 12 June 2020 · aged 84
AUB engineering professor who kept teaching through fifteen years of civil war
Beirut, Lebanon Born in Bhamdoun, Mount Lebanon Resting at Family plot, Bhamdoun, Mount LebanonAbout Elias
Through fifteen years of civil war, Professor Elias Najjar missed fewer lectures than the weather. He walked to the American University of Beirut every morning from his flat in Ras Beirut, steering around sandbags and craters with a worn leather briefcase under his arm, and on the worst days, when the lecture halls were unsafe, he taught in a basement corridor by the light of a camping lamp, drawing beams and bridges on a portable blackboard.
Born in 1936 in Bhamdoun, a pine-scented village in Mount Lebanon, the son of a stonemason, he studied civil engineering at AUB on a scholarship, took his master's at the University of Illinois and a doctorate at MIT, and returned to Beirut in 1964 to join the faculty. He taught structural engineering for forty years, a patient, wry teacher who told students that a bridge is just a promise made of steel. His former students designed airports, towers and reconstruction projects across Lebanon and the Gulf, and he could still name every one of them. He chaired the department in the 1990s and led the committee that rebuilt the engineering laboratories after the war.
At home he was fond of arak at sunset, chess against anyone brave enough and the scent of jasmine on his balcony. He made a legendary tabbouleh, with parsley chopped finer than seemed possible. His wife, Nadia, a French teacher, died in 2015, and he missed her out loud. He died at home in Beirut on 12 June 2020, aged eighty-four, in a country under lockdown and financial crisis; his son Georges, in Dubai, could not travel and watched the funeral service by livestream. He leaves Georges, his daughter Rima and four grandchildren.
“A bridge is only a promise made of steel. Keep it.”
- Faith
- Christian
- Place of birth
- Bhamdoun, Mount Lebanon
- Resting place
- Family plot, Bhamdoun, Mount Lebanon
- Passed away
- 12 June 2020, Beirut
Funeral Service
Sunday, 14 June 2020 at 08:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
B.E. in Civil Engineering
American University of Beirut1954 – 1958 · Beirut
Studied on a scholarship; the stonemason's son who became an engineer.
M.S. in Civil Engineering
University of Illinois1958 – 1960 · Urbana, USA
Specialised in structural analysis.
Ph.D. in Structural Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology1960 – 1964 · Cambridge, USA
Doctoral work on the behaviour of steel frames.
Professor of Structural Engineering
American University of Beirut1964 – 2004 · Beirut
Forty years of teaching, through war and reconstruction.
Married Nadia Khoury
1965 · Beirut
A marriage of fifty years, until Nadia's death in 2015.
Chair, Department of Civil Engineering
American University of Beirut1991 – 1997 · Beirut
Led the rebuilding of the engineering laboratories after the war.
Honorary Fellowship
Order of Engineers and Architects, Beirut2004 · Beirut
For forty years of service to engineering education in Lebanon.
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Family & connections
Also remembered on Evermore
Elias is survived by
- Georges Najjar· Son
- Rima Najjar-Haddad· Daughter
- 4 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Elias.
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Sign in to write a tribute- HS
Former student, now a civil engineer in London
He wrote my recommendation letter in 1997 and ended it: 'She is stubborn, which is the first requirement for a bridge.' I have framed it. My first London project passed its final inspection the week he died. I like to think he signed it off.
- PW
Fellow doctoral student at MIT, 1962
He arrived in Cambridge in 1960 with one jacket and a dictionary, and by Christmas he had taught our entire lab to make tabbouleh with parsley from the Boston market. Elias was the finest structural mind in our cohort and the finest cook. He was never vain about either.
- NK
Former student, class of 1988, now a structural engineer
In 1985 he taught us in a basement corridor by lamplight, with distant shelling in the background. He said, 'Keep your eyes on the beam.' I did. Every building I design still has a beam I privately label N-85, for his basement class.
- GN
Son
I watched Baba's funeral on a laptop in Dubai with the borders closed. The priest said his name and I stood up in my living room. Later my son Elias asked why I was crying, and I said, 'The best bridge I knew has gone.' We will keep it standing, Baba.
- SH
Son-in-law
I met the professor in a shelter in 1984, a thin boy holding my friend's cards. He asked me what I wanted to be. 'An engineer,' I said, hoping he would approve. He said, 'Then be afraid of nothing except a bad weld.' I married his daughter. He never let me forget that advice.
- FK
Neighbour in Ras Beirut
We played chess on the landing for forty years. He beat me eleven times a year and let me win once, on my birthday. At the funeral I slipped a pawn into his pocket. I hope it is enough to keep him company.
