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The Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service

Posted on Tuesday June 6, 2006

The Arab American Institute Foundation established the “Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service” to pay tribute to an extraordinary legacy of achievement and to honor Arab Americans who have excelled in public service while displaying a strong and visible pride in their heritage.

The award’s namesake was born in Dallas to parents with notably different backgrounds: his Lebanese-Syrian father was a naturalized citizen and his mother hailed from Tennessee. After graduating from Stanford University with a degree in political science, Najeeb Halaby went on to earn a law degree from Yale University.

When America entered World War II, Najeeb answered the call to service and joined the Navy as an aviator where he test-piloted the first US jet plane. An accomplished pilot, he flew the first continuous transcontinental jet flight in 1945.

Following his military service, Najeeb embarked upon what would become a distinguished career in government service beginning in the Office of Research and Intelligence under President Truman. Between 1948 and 1953 he was foreign affairs advisor to Secretary of Defense James Forrestal developing military assistance programs. Under President Eisenhower, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and organized the office of International Security Affairs.

In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Najeeb to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). During his four-year tenure at the FAA, Najeeb decentralized the agency’s authority and established the FAA Flight Academy in Oklahoma City. He was known as a hands-on administrator and a staunch supporter of minority rights in the aviation industry. His legacy includes the desegregation of American air terminals and securing the election of the first minority director to an airline board.

Upon leaving the FAA, Najeeb joined Pan American Airways as director and senior Vice President. In 1969 he was named Chairman and CEO, introducing the Boeing 747 and expanding the airline’s Inter-Continental Hotel chain.

Always looking for opportunities to build better relations between America and the Arab world, Najeeb created the Arab Air Academy to train aviation industry workers throughout the Arab world. He chaired the Board of Trustees for the American University of Beirut in the 1980s and advocated for increased funding and the maintenance of the university’s standard of excellence. As a member of the Board of Trustees at Stanford University’s Institute for International Studies from 1994-2003, he called for an expansion of the Institute’s work in the Arab and Muslim world.

As a member and past Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Save the Children, Najeeb and Board Chair Tom Murphy established the Halaby-Murphy Fund to “enable immediate financing and rapid response to children and families in emergencies.” The Fund has enabled Save the Children to lend immediate aid to families in war-torn Sudan, Haiti, and Iranian earthquake victims.

While Najeeb had a passion for public service he was also a successful businessman and lawyer. He founded Halaby International, a New York based investment firm specializing in Middle East ventures and ran N.E. Halaby and Associates law firm before his appointment to the FAA.

Although Najeeb Elias Halaby passed away in July 2003, his legacy of service and pride in his Arab American heritage lives on in his children Chris, Alexa, and Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan.