Dr Tarek Mitri is former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Libya. He is currently the President of St. George University of Beirut. Dr Mitri held several ministerial positions in the Lebanese Government: Minister of Culture, Minister of Information, Minister of Environment and Administrative Development, and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He was Director of Issam Fares Institute on Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. He chairs the Board of Nicolas Sursock Museum in Beirut and the Institute of Palestine Studies. Dr Mitri is a member of the Strategic Council at Saint Joseph’s University and the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.

Besides acting as coordinator of interreligious relations in the World Council of Churches in Geneva, he was visiting professor and adjunct faculty at Université St. Joseph, Balamand University, the University of Geneva, Amsterdam Free University, Harvard University and the American University of Beirut. He authored a number of books and articles on contemporary Arab issues, religion and politics and interreligious and intercultural dialogue. Dr Tarek Mitri holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Paris.