Lebanese American University (LAU)

A Century of Service

LAU was founded as a college for women in 1924 by Presbyterian missionaries. The institution has grown and changed tremendously through the decades, but the enterprising and progressive spirit of service of those who started it endures. Visit the Centennial website.

American Higher Education Standards

LAU is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit higher education institution through the New York State Education Department. All of LAU’s academic programs are reviewed and approved by this body. In addition, LAU is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education, Inc. (NECHE). Several programs are also accredited by authoritative agencies in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

LAU’s remarkable history originated in the desire to extend education to women at a time when few, if any, such possibilities existed.

An engraving of Sarah L. Smith. Appalled at the upbringing of local girls in 1835, she started giving regular classes to those who would take them. Smith fell ill and died the same year, but her actions left an incalculable legacy.

Presbyterian missionaries Eli and Sarah L. Smith came to Lebanon in 1835. Noticing the prevalent illiteracy among girls in Beirut, Sarah decided to offer classes to the local population. With a handful of students, she started what soon became known as the American School of Girls.

After a sectarian conflict in 1860, ASG was renamed Beirut Female Seminary. It went through several changes—including a few interruptions—before reverting to its original name in 1868, and becoming a popular school for women which included secondary education. Over the decades it became known as the best female boarding school in the region as it drew more and more students from various locations.

An engraved stone found today at the National Evangelical Church in Beirut is testament to that feat: “Site of the first edifice built in the Turkish empire for a girls school.” It refers to the American School for Girls (ASG), established in Beirut in 1835 by American Presbyterian missionaries. ASG inaugurated an important shift in education for women in Syria and the surrounding region.