AUC names business school for Onsi Sawiris after gift of more than $30 million

The American University in Cairo (AUC) announced on December 2, 2024, that its School of Business would be named the Onsi Sawiris School of Business following a gift with an estimated combined value of more than $30 million. The university described the donation as the largest philanthropic gift in its history.

AUC listed the donors as the NNS Foundation, the Naguib Sawiris Charitable Fund, Naguib Samih Sawiris, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development and Orascom Construction. The naming is permanent and honors the late founder of the Orascom group. According to the university, the funds will support scholarships and research initiatives, a professorship in artificial intelligence and data science, visiting faculty, and exchange programs for students and faculty with universities in the United States, including the University of Chicago.

AUC has offered economics courses since 1947, and its business school holds the three international accreditations commonly referred to as the triple crown, a status the university says places it among the top 1 percent of business schools worldwide. The gift combines support for student access through scholarships with new academic capacity in data-related fields and closer links with American institutions.