Why 'Recognition From Homeland' Is Unlike Any Other Award For Great Arab Minds Winners

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

For decades, their work has shaped science, medicine, technology, culture, and architecture around the world. On January 15, those contributions were honoured on Arab soil by Arab leadership before an Arab audience.

At the Great Arab Minds award ceremony, held on Thursday, in the presence of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, winners repeatedly returned to one shared sentiment: that recognition from the Arab world carries a weight unlike any other.

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For engineering and technology winner Abbas El Gamal, the moment was deeply personal.

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“This is the first recognition I received from my Arab homeland,” he said on stage.“Egypt and the Arab world have never left me, even though I left more than 50 years ago. This honour carries profound meaning for me, both personally and emotionally.”

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, honoured the winners of the Great Arab Minds Award 2025 on Thursday at the Museum of the Future in Dubai.

During the ceremony, six winners were honoured: Professor Majid Chergui in the Natural Sciences category, Professor Abbas El Gamal in the Engineering and Technology category, Dr Nabil Seidah in the Medicine category, Professor Badi Hani in the Economics category, Dr Suad Amiry in the Architecture and Design category, and Professor Charbel Dagher in the Literature and Arts category.

El Gamal recalled childhood memories of dismantling radios and electrical devices, driven by curiosity rather than formal training. He spoke of the encouragement he later received from his family, and how early fascination turned into a lifelong scientific career that helped shape technologies used globally today.

He said the award also reinforced his commitment to supporting Arab youth, adding that he intends to direct the prize's value toward expanding educational opportunities for underprivileged Arab students.

Architecture and design winner Suad Amiry echoed that sense of coming full circle.

“For me, and for the Riwaq Centre in Palestine, this honour means a great deal,” she said.“It is not just a personal award, but recognition of a collective effort.”

Amiry reflected on how her work in preserving Palestinian architectural heritage was shaped by memory, loss, and responsibility. She recalled how her father often spoke of the 420 Palestinian villages destroyed between 1948 and 1952, a number that stayed with her and influenced her lifelong focus on heritage and documentation.

What began as a decision that surprised her family, later grew into a national effort. Since founding Riwaq in 1991, her work has helped document more than 50,000 historic buildings, restore over 160 cultural centres, and fully revive 25 historic town centres across Palestine.

“This was never an individual achievement,” she said, thanking the architects, craftsmen, researchers, and local communities who contributed to the work.“Heritage preservation is a collective act.”

Medicine winner Nabil Seidah described the award as recognition not only of scientific output, but of persistence.

He traced his journey back to advice from his father, who once told him that knowledge is the only thing no one can take away. That belief guided more than five decades of research into cholesterol regulation, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

“To be honoured in this way, by an Arab initiative that brings together scientists and thinkers from across disciplines, is deeply moving,” he said.

Seidah also dedicated part of his remarks to his family, describing their support as the foundation that sustained him through moments of doubt and long years of research.

Across disciplines and life paths, a common theme emerged; that recognition from global institutions matters, but recognition from home carries a different meaning.

Launched under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Great Arab Minds initiative was created to spotlight Arab thinkers whose ideas have shaped global knowledge and to inspire future generations across the region.

As the ceremony concluded, the message from the stage was consistent: Arab excellence has long existed. What is new is the space created to recognise it, celebrate it, and pass it forward.

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