MAMDOUHA BOBST

BOBST--Mamdouha.

Mamdouha El-Sayed Bobst, 90, passed away peacefully in her New York City apartment, surrounded by family and friends. Former UN delegate, public health advocate, distinguished philanthropist. Born in Tripoli, Lebanon in 1925, she graduated from The American University of Beirut in 1947 and earned a Masters in Public Health education from UC Berkeley a few years later. Brilliant, charismatic and fearless, she began her career in Libya, where she worked as a health advisor to the government, and helped develop their national public health program. Soon after, she was appointed as a Lebanese delegate to the United Nations, and was one of only a few females to assume such a post. In 1961, she married Elmer Bobst, a successful businessman and pharmaceutical executive who shared her interests in public health. He was a leader in the war on cancer, and a driving force behind former President Nixon's signing of the National Cancer Act in 1971. Together, Elmer and Mamdouha created The Bobst Foundation. Their first major joint contribution was The NYU Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, in 1973. After Elmer died in 1978, Mrs. Bobst took over as president of the foundation and continued its mission of and devotion to philanthropy, making numerous significant and transformative donations to the fields of medicine and health, education, social justice and animal welfare. While impossible to list all the generous activities of the Bobst Foundation, key beneficiaries include: New York University; NYU Langone Medical Center; Princeton University (The Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice); The American University of Beirut (The Elmer and Mamdouha El-Sayed Bobst Chemistry Center); The American University of Beirut Medical Center (The Mamdouha El-Sayed Bobst Breast Unit); Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (The Bobst International Center and The Bobst Pavilion); and The Animal Medical Center (The Elmer and Mamdouha Bobst Hospital). The Bobst Foundation has also donated generously throughout the years to the American Cancer Society and the ASPCA. Mrs. Bobst set up numerous scholarship funds for several universities across the world, as well as fellowship programs throughout various medical colleges. Whether it concerned social justice issues or cancer research, The Bobst Foundation fostered alliances between global institutions to encourage active dialogue and exchange of ideas. Mrs. Bobst was a woman of great humility and faith, who adopted and lived American values while never forgetting her homeland, Lebanon. She will be dearly missed by her friends and family for her wisdom, work ethic, generosity, and relentless dedication to changing the world. She will be forever remembered for the thousands of people she helped to educate, and the thousands of lives that she helped to save. May she and her beloved husband Elmer, now united, rest in peace. Mrs. Bobst is survived by one brother, three sisters, many nieces and nephews, and extended family living all around the world.