4 - 10 January 2001
Issue No.515
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 4 - 10 January 2001 Issue No.515 |
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Obituary
Michel Wahba (1912-2000)
Dr Michel Wahba, a retired clinical psychologist formerly with the University of California (UC) at Davis, died after suffering a heart attack on 25 December in Sacramento, California. He was 88.
Michel Wahba served as registrar and director of admissions at the American University in Cairo from 1953 to 1967. He taught at New York State University in Oswego, New York, before moving to California and joining UC Davis in 1969. He is survived by his wife, Carmen Wahba, his son, Wagdi Wahba, a real estate broker in Sacramento, his daughters, Mrs Irene Shahid of Vancouver, Canada, and Marcelle M Wahba, counsellor for press and cultural affairs at the US Embassy in Cairo.
Michel Wahba grew up in Cairo and attended Cairo University's College of Engineering. He graduated at the top of his class and was offered a full scholarship to the United Kingdom to continue his studies in engineering. Wahba's parents had both passed away and he, being the eldest son, declined the scholarship and stayed in Egypt to support his brothers and sister. Michel Wahba joined the American University in Cairo and soon after won a scholarship to the University of Chicago, where he received his master's degree in 1951. In 1959, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for a doctoral degree at the University of North Carolina and left Egypt with his wife, Carmen, and three children for Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He received his PhD and completed his one year of internship at the Danbury Mental Hospital in Danbury, Connecticut.
Wahba returned with his family to Cairo in 1961 and continued at AUC as the director of admissions. He also joined the department of anthropology, where he taught psychology. Many of his students and colleagues remember him as a tough administrator and teacher, but also a caring humanitarian who helped students and their families cope with the university's academic and financial requirements. In his capacity as director of admissions he pioneered AUC's recruitment of students from nearby Arab countries. He travelled to Amman and Jerusalem, and recruited many Jordanians and Palestinians who are now prominent businessmen and women, government officials and teachers in both Jordan and Palestine.
In 1967, Michel Wahba emigrated with his family to the United States. He joined New York State University in Oswego, NY, as an associate professor of psychology. Unhappy with the cold winters of Oswego, the family moved to California where he joined UC Davis as a clinical psychologist at the Sacramento County Mental Hospital. Wahba loved teaching and, in addition to his full-time position at the hospital, he taught one or two graduate courses in psychology.
After his retirement in the early 1980s, Michel Wahba moved to San Francisco and taught part-time at San Francisco City College. As energetic in retirement as he was throughout his career, Wahba decided to take up art and began a series of art courses. He travelled often and, after his daughter Marcelle joined the State Department, he visited her in Washington, Cairo and Cyprus. His favourite city was Paris where he always spent time on his way to other destinations. Michel Wahba stopped teaching in 1995 but continued to paint and took up photography to document normal daily life in the city of San Francisco. In 1999, Michel Wahba moved back to Sacramento to be close to several family members. He enjoyed good health throughout his full life.
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