Birth: 13/3/1929 Death:2/6/2016
Born in Jerusalem on 13 March 1929; studied Mathematics and Science at the AUC, graduating with a BSc in 1952; worked as a teacher in Kuwait from 1952-59; continued his studies at the Robert College in Istanbul and graduated with a BSc in Civil Engineering in 1961; from 1961-65, worked as engineer in Amman; became Managing Director of the Engineering Construction Company in Jerusalem from 1965-67; Founding Director and Secretary of Al-Maqassed Society from 1967-68; led the West Bank Engineering Association from 1967-87; was the chief engineer on the Al-Aqsa restoration project during 1969-77; founded the engineering firm Dakkak & Associates in Jerusalem in 1977 and serves as its proprietor since; co-founder of various Palestinian institutions, incl. the Arab Thought Forum, whose chair he was from 1977-91, and the National Guidance Committee, as whose secretary he served from 1978-82; founding member of the Council for Higher Education and Chairman of its General Assembly from 1977-87; was placed under house arrest by Israel intermittently from Aug. 80; Board of Trustees member of the Abu Dis College of Science and Technology since 1981; member of the Higher Islamic Committee since 1985; member of the Geneva-based International Coordinating Committee on Palestine from 1987-89; Board of Trustees member of Birzeit University since 1987, currently serving as its Chairperson; works as engineer, writer and political commentator; has published various studies on the question of development and housing; served as deputy head of the Palestinian Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS) in Ramallah; member of PECDAR’s Board of Governors; among the founders of Al-Mubadara (the Palestinian National Initiative) in June 2002. He died in 2016.
