Looking for the Next Jana
From left: LAU President Michel E. Mawad; Hiba Yazbeck (BS ’97); Dr. Jana Sharara (MD ’23); Dean Sola Bahous of the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine.
The story behind the Jana Fund begins with a Google search.
As Hiba Yazbeck (BS ’97) describes it, “out of the blue, I received an email from a student at LAU telling me about the financial hardship of her family and how she was going to be a dropout if no one helped her” pay the remaining cost of tuition not covered by financial aid. That student was Jana Sharara (MD ’23), who was then a first-year student at the LAU Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine.
“She found me because she had Googled ‘Lebanese philanthropists in the US’ and my name popped up because of an interview with CAAP [Center for Arab American Philanthropy] where I talked about how important supporting education in Lebanon is for me.”
The idea of making a commitment to support a medical school student seemed overwhelming, but as Yazbeck noted looking back on that time, “I felt that I could not let Jana down.” Education holds deep significance to Yazbeck and her husband, Chady Wehbe. Before emigrating to the United States, he had worked as a professor in Lebanon.
For Yazbeck, “the strength of a nation is its youth and how educated they are. Education is what allows you to give back to society.” She also thought about how her life would have been if she had been in the same situation as Jana. “If in 1997 there had been a financial crisis in Lebanon and my parents had lost their savings, I probably would have been a dropout and not be where I am right now as a successful person, not only helping myself but helping my community and making an impact,” Yazbeck said.
So, the couple reached out to Sharara to learn more about her aspirations. They were immediately charmed by her and were convinced that she would “pay their generosity forward and give back to her community.” They contacted LAU to cover the remaining tuition, support they provided annually until she graduated in 2023.
Dr. Sharara is now working as a nephrology research fellow at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.
Yazbeck and Wehbe are now committed to “finding the next Jana.” In honor of LAU’s centennial, they have created the Jana Fund, a scholarship fund that will allow talented students like Jana to pursue their dreams.
Dr. Sharara at her graduation from LAU in 2023.
“I believe in collective effort and community and sustainability of a project,” said Yazbeck. She added: “I want to make it a community fund and I want to make supporting it contagious. Small steps can leave an impact. You don’t need to be a billionaire or a millionaire to help, you can help with whatever amount you can. There’s a saying from [St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Founder] Danny Thomas that I really believe in: ‘I’d rather have a million people give me a dollar than one give me a million. That way you’ve got a million people involved.’”
Giving back to the LAU community is important for Yazbeck. “I believe the building block of the education that LAU gave me helped me to build the life that I have currently and reach my goals and everything I seek for,” she said.