Global Understanding

Costa Rica comes to Chatham

President of EARTH University to speak at Graduate Commencement on May 23

Chatham will welcome José Zaglul, president of EARTH University in Costa Rica as keynote speaker at the 15th commencement exercies for the College for Graduate Studies and the College for Continuing and Professional Studies on Sunday, May 23 in the University’s Athletic and Fitness Center in Shadyside. This year marks EARTH University’s 20th anniversary. Trustee Chair S. Murray Rust III, President Esther L. Barazzone, Ph.D. and Vice President for Academic Affairs Laura S. Armesto, Ph.D. will present Dr. Zaglul with honorary doctorate of public service. Joining Dr. Zaglul as keynote will be Mark Roosevelt, Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

José A. Zaglul is the President of EARTH University, an international, private, not-for-profit institution in Costa Rica, dedicated to preparing leaders with ethical values to contribute to the sustainable development of the tropics and to construct a prosperous and just society. Dr. Zaglul has been President of EARTH University since its inception in 1989 and has provided the vision and leadership for this innovative institution and its unique educational environment that encourages the development of responsible leadership based on values, social commitment, environmental consciousness, academic excellence and an entrepreneurial and enterprising spirit.

Born and raised in Costa Rica to parents of Lebanese descent, Dr. Zaglul obtained his B.S. in Agricultural Economics and M.S. in Animal Science from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. He later received a second M.S. in Food Science and Human Nutrition and a PhD in Meat and Muscle Biology from the University of Florida.

Prior to serving as EARTH University’s President, Dr. Zaglul was Head of the Animal Production Department at the Centro Agrícola Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Costa Rica, an international center for tropical research and the oldest postgraduate school of agriculture in Latin America. From 1981 to 1985, Dr. Zaglul was a Food Science professor and later Vice President of Research and Extension of the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR).

Dr. Zaglul is the former President (2005-2007) and a current Executive Committee member of the Global Consortium of Higher Education and Research for Agriculture (GCHERA) and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Beirut and the Board of Directors of Citizens in Solidarity. He served as the co-chair of the five-year SEMCIT international seminar series (Sustainability, Education and the Management of Change in the Tropics) and travels extensively around the world to present EARTH University’s innovative educational model and raise funds for the institution.

He speaks Spanish, English and Arabic fluently.