List of Arab Americans
Encyclopedia
There are many influential Arab Americans. This Influence is evident in sectors such as Business, engineering, entertainment, sports, and fine arts.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Arab American or must have references showing they are Arab American and are notable.

Academics

  • Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad
    Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad
    Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad is an Palestinian American scholar and the president of the Minaret of Freedom Institute, a libertarian Muslim think-tank...

     teaches religion
    Religion
    Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

    , science
    Science
    Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

     and freedom
    Liberty
    Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...

     at the University of Maryland, College Park
    University of Maryland, College Park
    The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

     and directs the Minaret of Freedom Institute
    Minaret of Freedom Institute
    The Minaret of Freedom Institute is an Islamic libertarian organization established in 1993 and based in Bethesda, Maryland. It was co-founded by Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, its president, and Shahid N. Shah...

    .
  • Ismail al-Faruqi
    Ismail al-Faruqi
    Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi was a Palestinian-American philosopher, widely recognised by his peers as an authority on Islam and comparative religion. He spent several years at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, then taught at several universities in North America, including McGill University in Montreal...

    , philosopher, professor
  • Saddeka Arebi
    Saddeka Arebi
    Dr. Saddeka Mohammed Arabi was a Libyan-American social anthropologist and author. Born in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, she immigrated with her family to the United States during the late 1970s, eventually settling in Northern California...

    , professor of anthropology at UC Berkeley
  • Mostafa El-Sayed
    Mostafa El-Sayed
    Mostafa A. El-Sayed is an Egyptian-American chemical physicist, a leading nanoscience researcher, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a US National Medal of Science laureate. He is also known for the spectroscopy rule named after him, the El-Sayed rule.- Academic career :He earned...

    , is a chemical physicist, a leading nanoscience researcher, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a US National Medal of Science laureate. He is also known for the spectroscopy rule named after him, the El-Sayed rule.
  • Farouk El-Baz
    Farouk El-Baz
    Farouk El-Baz is an Egyptian American scientist who worked with NASA to assist in the planning of scientific exploration of the Moon, including the selection of landing sites for the Apollo missions and the training of astronauts in lunar observations and photography.Currently, El-Baz is Research...

    , an Egyptian American scientist who worked with NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

     to assist in the planning of scientific exploration of the Moon, including the selection of landing sites for the Apollo missions and the training of astronauts in lunar observations and photography.
  • Elias Corey, organic chemistry professor at Harvard University and 1990 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry (Lebanese parents)
  • Nawal M. Nour
    Nawal M. Nour
    Nawal M. Nour is an American obstetrician and gynecologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, she won 2003 Genius Award...

    , an obstetrician and gynecologist and 2003 Genius Award
    MacArthur Fellows Program
    The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...

     winner (Sudanese).
  • Michael E. DeBakey
    Michael E. DeBakey
    Michael Elias DeBakey was a world-renowned Lebanese-American cardiac surgeon, innovator, scientist, medical educator, and international medical statesman...

    , pioneering American-Lebanese cardiovascular surgeon and researcher
  • Charles Elachi
    Charles Elachi
    Charles Asshur Al-Wadad Elachi is the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory , located in Pasadena, California. He has held this position since May 1, 2001 and also holds professorships in electrical engineering and planetary science at Caltech....

    , Professor of electrical engineering and planetary science at Caltech
    California Institute of Technology
    The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

     and director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...

     (Lebanese)
  • Taher ElGamal
    Taher Elgamal
    Dr. Taher Elgamal is an Egyptian cryptographer. Elgamal is sometimes written as El Gamal or ElGamal, but Elgamal is now preferred...

    , Inventor of the ElGamal discrete log cryptosystem and the ElGamal signature scheme.
  • Samih Farsoun
    Samih Farsoun
    Samih K. Farsoun, was a professor emeritus of sociology at American University, where he taught for thirty years until his retirement in 2003. He graduated from Hamilton College in New York. He received a master's degree in 1961 and a PhD in 1971, both in sociology from the University of Connecticut...

      Sociology professor at the American University
  • Fawaz Gerges
    Fawaz Gerges
    Fawaz A. Gerges is a professor and author with expertise on the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy, international relations, Al Qaeda, and relations between the world of Islam and the West....

    , ABC analyst, professor, regular guest on Oprah's Anti-war series
    Oprah's Anti-war series
    Oprah’s Anti-war series was a series of episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show that ran from early November 2002 until March 18, 2003. The series was supposed to begin in the Fall of 2001 but was delayed when the pilot episode inspired an enormous backlash...

     (Lebanese parents)
  • Michel T. Halbouty
    Michel T. Halbouty
    Michel Thomas Halbouty was an American geologist, petroleum engineer, and wildcatter. Credited with discovering more than 50 oil and gas fields, he twice declared bankruptcy, but came back each time to regain wealth...

    , famous Lebanese-American geologist and geophysicist, pioneer in oil field research
  • Philip S. Khoury
    Philip S. Khoury
    Philip S. Khoury is an historian of the Middle East, presently Associate Provost and Ford International Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Beirut....

    , Ford International Professor of History and Associate Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

     (Lebanese)
  • Edward Said
    Edward Said
    Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...

    , Palestinian-American literary theorist and former professor at Columbia University
  • Mohammed Adam El-Sheikh
    Mohammed Adam El-Sheikh
    Sheikh Mohamad Adam El-Sheikh is a Sudanese/American executive director of the Fiqh Council of North America.-Education:He graduated from the faculty of Shari’ah and Law, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan, in 1969....

    , executive director of the Fiqh Council of North America
    Fiqh Council of North America
    The Fiqh Council of North America is an association of Muslims who interpret Islamic law on the North American continent.Its 18 members issue religious rulings, resolve disputes, and answer questions relating to the Islamic faith...

    . (Sudanese)
  • Donna Shalala
    Donna Shalala
    Donna Edna Shalala served for eight years as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and has been president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida, since 2001. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest...

    , President of the University of Miami
    University of Miami
    The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

     (Lebanese)
  • Fawwaz Ulaby, (Ulaby was born in Damascus, Syria and grew up in Lebanon. He attended the American University of Beirut, from which he received a B.S. degree in physics in 1964). Former Vice President for Research of the University of Michigan
    University of Michigan
    The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

     and first Arab-American winner of the IEEE Edison Medal
    IEEE Edison Medal
    The Edison Medal is presented by the IEEE "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts." It is the oldest and most coveted medal in this field of engineering in the United States. The award consists of a gold medal, bronze replica,...

  • Ahmed Zewail
    Ahmed Zewail
    Ahmed Hassan Zewail is an Egyptian-American scientist who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry. He is the Linus Pauling Chair Professor Chemistry and Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology.- Birth and education :Ahmed Zewail was born on...

    , Egyptian-American professor at Caltech and winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...

    .
  • Elias Zerhouni
    Elias Zerhouni
    Elias A. Zerhouni is an Algerian born American radiologist and medical researcher. He was the 15th director of the National Institutes of Health, appointed by George W. Bush in May 2002. He served for 6 years, stepping down in October, 2008.-Background:A resident of Pasadena, Maryland, Zerhouni...

    , Algerian-American director of the National Institutes of Health, appointed by George W. Bush in May 2002,
  • Nada Shabout
    Nada Shabout
    Nada Shabout is an Iraqi American art historian specializing in modern Iraqi art. She has been a professor of art history at University of North Texas since 2002.-Early life and education:...

    , Professor of Art History at University of North Texas
    University of North Texas
    The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...

    .

Business

  • Najeeb Halaby
    Najeeb Halaby
    Najeeb Elias Halaby Jr. was a US businessman, government official, and the father of Queen Noor of Jordan.-Early life and ancestry:Halaby was born in Dallas, Texas. His father was Najeeb Elias Halaby Sr. a Syrian Christian, who emigrated to the United States from Syria in 1891...

    , former head of Federal Aviation Administration
    Federal Aviation Administration
    The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

     and CEO of Pan-American Airlines (Syrian father)
  • Steve Jobs
    Steve Jobs
    Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...

    , head of Apple
    Apple Computer
    Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...

    , biological father was Syrian
  • Mario Kassar
    Mario Kassar
    Mario F. Kassar is a film producer and industry executive whose projects are frequently in association with Andrew G. Vajna.Kassar was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Working for Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, he was executive producer of several movies starting with Victory in 1981...

    , formerly headed Carolco Pictures
    Carolco Pictures
    Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments was an American independent film production company that, within a decade, went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first three movies of the Rambo series to being bankrupted by...

      (Lebanese)
  • John J. Mack
    John J. Mack
    John J. Mack is the current Chairman of the Board at Morgan Stanley, the New York-based investment bank and brokerage firm. Mack announced his retirement as Chief Executive Officer on September 10, 2009, which was effective January 1, 2010. Former Co-President James P...

    , CEO of investment bank Morgan Stanley
    Morgan Stanley
    Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....

     (Lebanese parents)
  • Joe Sitt Real Estate developer and founder of Thor Equities (Syrian grandparents)
  • Sam Maloof
    Sam Maloof
    Sam Maloof was a furniture designer and woodworker. He was born in Chino, California, USA, to parents who emigrated to the United States from Lebanon...

     (Lebanese parents)
  • Maloof family
    Maloof family
    The Maloof family owns numerous business properties in the Western United States. The origin of the family name is Maalouf and is of Levantine descent; the family is Lebanese via their paternal grandfather. The Maloofs are the owners of the Sacramento Kings of the NBA . The family consists of...

    , (The Maloof family is a Lebanese family which owns numerous business properties in the Western United States, majority owners of the Sacramento Kings
    Sacramento Kings
    The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...

     and the Palms Casino Hotel in Las Vegas
    Las Vegas metropolitan area
    The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

    , Nevada
    Nevada
    Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

  • Sam Moore
    Sam Moore
    Samuel David Moore is an American Southern Soul and Rhythm & Blues singer who was the tenor vocalist for the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 through 1981...

    , the founder and president of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest worldwide distributor of the Bible
  • Paul Orfalea
    Paul Orfalea
    Paul Orfalea , nicknamed "Kinko" because of his curly red hair, founded the copy-chain Kinko's. His father descends from Urfa.Orfalea was born in Los Angeles, California to parents of Lebanese descent...

    , Nicknamed "Kinko" because of his curly red hair, born in Los Angeles, California, to parents of Lebanese descent, founded the copy-chain Kinko's.
  • Farouk Shami
    Farouk Shami
    Farouk Shami is a Palestinian-American businessman from Ramallah, West Bank, who now lives in Houston, Texas, where he runs the hair-care and spa products company, Farouk Systems....

    , founder of Farouk systems, a Houston based company that manufactures high quality professional hair care and spa products like CHI hair Irons (Palestinian)
  • Joseph Jacobs
    Joseph Jacobs
    Joseph Jacobs was a folklorist, literary critic and historian. His works included contributions to the Jewish Encyclopaedia, translations of European works, and critical editions of early English literature...

    , founder of Jacobs Engineering
    Jacobs Engineering Group
    Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., a publicly traded company with over 50,000 employees and 2010 revenues of nearly $10 billion, provides technical, professional, and construction services globally. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, it was founded in 1947 by Dr. Joseph J. Jacobs. Jacobs offers...

    , one of the leading engineering firms in the US (Lebanese)
  • Alec Gores
    Alec Gores
    Alec E. Gores is an American businessman who made his fortune through leveraged buyouts of technology firms. His personal wealth was estimated at roughly $1.5 billion by Forbes magazine in 2008.-Early life and education:...

    , founder of Gores Group. On the Forbes list of billionaires.
  • Tom Gores
    Tom Gores
    Tom Gores is an American billionaire with an estimated current net worth of $2.4 billion dollars. He appears on the Forbes list of 2011 World's Billionaires. On June 1, 2011 he became the owner of the Detroit Pistons.-Biography:...

    , founder and CEO of Platinum Equity
    Platinum Equity
    Platinum Equity, LLC is a private equity investment firm founded by Tom Gores in 1995. The firm focuses on leveraged buyout investments of established companies in the U.S. and Europe....

    . On the Forbes list of billionaires.
  • Sam Gores
    Sam Gores
    Sam Gores is the Chairman of Paradigm Talent Agency located in Beverly Hills, California. His clients include Laurence Fishburne, Andy García, Academy Award Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Black Eyed Peas, and Katherine Heigl....

    , founder of talent agency Paridigm Agency. On the Forbes list of billionaires.

Media

  • Jim Avila
    Jim Avila
    Jim Avila is an American television journalist, currently the Senior Law and Justice Correspondent for ABC News. Jim graduated from Glenbard East High School with the name of Jim Simon. Before joining ABC, he was a correspondent for NBC News...

    , correspondent for ABC News "20/20", half Lebanese
  • Jamal Dajani
    Jamal Dajani
    Jamal Dajani is a Palestinian-American journalist, and an award-winning producer. He currently holds the position of Vice President for Middle East & North Africa at...

    , television producer and Middle East analyst, Palestinian
  • Hala Gorani
    Hala Gorani
    Hala Basha-Gorani , is an American anchor/correspondent for CNN International based in the network's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. She anchors CNN Internationals 1 p.m. ET International Desk from the CNN Center...

    , CNN anchor, Syrian
  • Hoda Kotb, TV host and journalist, Egyptian descent
  • Anthony Shadid
    Anthony Shadid
    Anthony Shadid is a foreign correspondent for The New York Times based in Baghdad and Beirut. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting twice, in 2004 and 2010.-Career:...

    , journalist, Lebanese descent
  • Helen Thomas
    Helen Thomas
    Helen Thomas is an American author and former news service reporter, member of the White House Press Corps and opinion columnist. She worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press International for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager...

    , journalist, Lebanese
  • RedOne
    RedOne
    Nadir Khayat , known by the stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan producer and songwriter. Renowned for co-producing hit singles such as "Just Dance", "Poker Face", "LoveGame", "Bad Romance", "Alejandro" and "Judas", he is attributed by some as the key to Lady Gaga's success...

    ,rapper,Moroccan

Military

  • John Abizaid
    John Abizaid
    John Philip Abizaid, AO is a retired General in the United States Army and former Commander of the United States Central Command , overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle...

    , Lebanese
  • James Jabara
    James Jabara
    James "Jabby" Jabara was the first American jet ace in history. Born in Oklahoma, he lived in Kansas where he enlisted as an aviation cadet at Fort Riley after graduating high school. Jabara attended four flying schools in Texas before he received his pilot's wings and was commissioned as a ...

    , Lebanese
  • George Joulwan
    George Joulwan
    George Alfred Joulwan is a retired United States Army general, and is now a businessman. Joulwan, of Lebanese origin, studied at the United States Military Academy and Loyola University Chicago....

    , Lebanese
  • Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie
    Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie
    Staff Sergeant Ahmed Kousay Altaie is an Iraqi American United States Army linguist soldier, who was captured on October 23, 2006 in Baghdad.-Early life:...

    , a Specialist
    Specialist (rank)
    Specialist is one of the four junior enlisted ranks in the U.S. Army, just above Private First Class and equivalent in pay grade to Corporal. Unlike Corporals, Specialists are not considered junior non-commissioned officers...

     in the United States Army
    United States Army
    The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

     who was kidnapped by insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq, on October 23, 2006

Performers

  • F. Murray Abraham
    F. Murray Abraham
    Fahrid Murray Abraham is an American actor. He became known during the 1980s after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. He has appeared in many roles, both leading and supporting, in films such as All the President's Men and Scarface...

    , Academy Award winner for role in Amadeus, father is from Syria
  • Moustapha Akkad
    Moustapha Akkad
    Moustapha Akkad was a Syrian American film producer and director, best known for producing the series of Halloween films and directing Mohammad, Messenger of God and Lion of the Desert. He was killed along with his daughter Rima Akkad Monla in 2005 in Amman, Jordan by a suicide bomber.-Early life...

    , film producer, Syrian-American
  • Malek Jandali
    Malek Jandali
    Malek Jandali , is a Syrian composer and pianist considered to be among the most versatile and creative musicians in the Arab world. He is the first Syrian and only Arab musician to arrange music based on the oldest music notation in the world, which was discovered in the Bronze Age city of...

    , composer & pianist, Syrian-American
  • Ferras
    Ferras
    Ferras Alqaisi , known as Ferras, is a Jordanian-American Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter who has signed with EMI as part of Capitol Records.-Career:Ferras grew up feeling out of place in a small Illinois town called Gillespie...

     Alqaisi, singer-songwriter, Jordanian-American
  • Paul Anka
    Paul Anka
    Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...

    , singer and songwriter, Lebanese parents Andy and Camelia Anka
  • Jeff Becerra, Death metal
    Death metal
    Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

     musician, Arab Mexican origin
  • Jim Backus
    Jim Backus
    James Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...

    , actor/comedian, Lebanese
  • Dick Dale
    Dick Dale
    Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...

    , surf rock guitarist, father was of Lebanese descent
  • Jenna Dewan
    Jenna Dewan
    Jenna Lee Dewan-Tatum , better known by her birth name Jenna Dewan, is an American actress, dancer, and former model.-Early life:...

    , film/TV actress (Step Up
    Step Up (film)
    Step Up is a 2006 American dance/romance film directed by Anne Fletcher starring Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan.Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the tale of the disadvantaged Tyler Gage and the privileged modern dancer Nora Clark , who find themselves paired up in a showcase that...

    ), half-Lebanese
  • Mohammed El-Bakkar
    Mohammed El-Bakkar
    Mohammed El-Bakkar was a Lebanese tenor, oud player, and conductor.El-Bakkar was a noted tenor and appeared in several Arabic-language films. He moved to the United States in 1952 and lived in Brooklyn. He released several LPs of Arabic music in the United States...

    , singer and band-leader, Lebanese immigrant to Brooklyn
    Brooklyn
    Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

  • Shannon Elizabeth
    Shannon Elizabeth
    Shannon Elizabeth is an American actress and former fashion model. Elizabeth is well known for her roles in comedy films such as Scary Movie, American Pie, and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. She is also well known for her work in horror films such as Thirteen Ghosts, Cursed, and Night of the Demons...

    , film actress ("American Pie", "Scary Movie"), Lebanese and Syrian ancestry
  • Yasmine Bleeth
    Yasmine Bleeth
    Yasmine Amanda Bleeth is an American actress. Her television roles include Caroline Holden in the long-running series Baywatch.-Early life and career:...

    , Actress ("Baywatch") Mother is of Algerian Descent.
  • Emilio Estefan
    Emilio Estefan
    Emilio Estefan, Jr. is a Cuban-American of Lebanese ancestry who is a musician and producer. Estefan's first taste of celebrity came as a member of the Miami Sound Machine, but he is also recognized as the producer of many famous singers. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan...

    , Cuban
    Cubans
    Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

    -born, manager and producer of wife Gloria Estefan
    Gloria Estefan
    Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...

    , Lebanese ancestry
  • Amy Fadhli
    Amy Fadhli
    Amy Fadhli is an American fitness model, actress and winner of the Fitness America National Champion 1996...

    , fitness model, actress and winner of the Fitness America National Champion 1996, Iraqi father
  • Rima Fakih
    Rima Fakih
    Rima Fakih is an American beauty pageant contestant, and winner of the 2010 Miss USA title, and is also training to be a professional wrestler in WWE as a WWE Diva. She represented the state of Michigan in the Miss USA 2010 pageant, having previously won the 2010 Miss Michigan USA competition...

    , Miss USA 2010
    Miss USA 2010
    Miss USA 2010, the 59th edition of the Miss USA pageant, was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 16, 2010. Miss USA 2009, Kristen Dalton of North Carolina, crowned her successor, Rima Fakih of Michigan as Miss USA 2010 at the...

    , Lebanese immigrant
  • Jamie Farr
    Jamie Farr
    Jamie Farr is an American television, film, and theater actor. He is best known for having played the role of cross-dressing Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger in the television sitcom M*A*S*H.-Early life:...

    , character actor, Lebanese
  • Khrystyne Haje
    Khrystyne Haje
    Khrystyne Kamil Haje is an American television and film actress who is best known for her role as Simone Foster in the television series Head of the Class.-Biography:...

    , actress on Head of the Class
    Head of the Class
    Head of the Class is an American sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network. The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program at the fictional Monroe High School in Manhattan, and their history teacher Charlie Moore...

    , Lebanese descent
  • Sammy Hagar
    Sammy Hagar
    Sam Roy "Sammy" Hagar , also known as The Red Rocker, is an American rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Also sings Country Music....

    , Rock musician
  • Teri Hatcher
    Teri Hatcher
    Teri Lynn Hatcher is an American actress, writer, and presenter. She is known for her television roles as Susan Mayer on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and Lois Lane on the ABC comedy-drama series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman...

    , actress, mother of Syrian ancestry
  • Salma Hayek
    Salma Hayek
    Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:...

    , actress, (Mexican father of Lebanese ancestry), naturalized US citizen
  • Paul Jabara
    Paul Jabara
    Paul Jabara was an American actor, singer, and songwriter of Lebanese ancestry. He wrote Donna Summer's "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday and Barbra Streisand's song "The Main Event/Fight" from The Main Event...

    , actor, singer, songwriter, Lebanese ancestry
  • Anissa Jones
    Anissa Jones
    Mary Anissa Jones was an American child actress known for her role as Buffy on the CBS sitcom Family Affair. She died from combined drug intoxication at the age of 18.-Early years:...

    , actress, Lebanese grandparents
  • Aron Kader
    Aron Kader
    Aron Kader is a comedian of Palestinian and American heritage. He is one of four members of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. He has performed in the New York Arab American Comedy Festival, started by fellow tour member Dean Obeidallah. Comedians from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour such as Ahmed Ahmed...

    , comedian, Palestinian ancestry
  • Remi Kanazi
    Remi Kanazi
    Remi Kanazi is a Palestinian-American performance poet and human rights activist based in New York City. He has edited a volume of hip hop, poetry and art, Poets for Palestine , and published the first collection of his own poetry, Poetic Injustice: Writings on Resistance and Palestine, in 2011...

    , performance poet, Palestinian descent
  • Casey Kasem
    Casey Kasem
    Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...

    , radio personality and voice actor, Palestinian descent
  • Kerri Kasem
    Kerri Kasem
    Kerri Kasem July 12, 1978 in Los Angeles, California) is a radio and television host, actress and covermodel.She is the daughter of the radio host Casey Kasem and his first wife, Linda Myers Kasem, a Republican Party fund raiser.BIOGRAPHY...

    , TV hostess, Palestinian descent
  • Catherine Keener
    Catherine Keener
    Catherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...

    , Lebanese ancestry on mother's side
  • Khaled Khaled
    DJ Khaled
    Khaled bin Abdul Khaled , better known by his stage name DJ Khaled, is an American record producer, radio personality, DJ, and record label executive. He is a radio host for the Miami-based urban music radio station WEDR and the DJ for the hip hop group Terror Squad. In 2006, Khaled released his...

    , a.k.a. DJ Khaled popular Hip-Hop DJ for Fat Joe
    Fat Joe
    Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....

    's Terror Squad
    Terror Squad (group)
    Terror Squad is an American hip hop collective that was first established in 1998. Based in The Bronx borough of New York City, the members of Terror Squad collectively debuted on a song in member Fat Joe's album Don Cartagena...

     group, Palestinian ancestry
  • Herbert Khaury
    Tiny Tim (musician)
    Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...

    , aka Tiny Tim, musician, Lebanese father
  • Kurtis Mantronik, born Kurtis el Khaleel, remixer and producer
    Record producer
    A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

    , founding member of 1980s old school hip hop group
    Old school hip hop
    Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...

     Mantronix
    Mantronix
    Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group founded by DJ Kurtis Mantronik , and rapper MC Tee...

    , Syrian father
  • Kristy McNichol
    Kristy McNichol
    Christina Ann "Kristy" McNichol is an American actress.McNichol is best known for her roles as Leticia “Buddy” Lawrence on the television drama series Family and as Barbara Weston on the sitcom Empty Nest. She is also the sister of former child actor Jimmy McNichol...

    , co-star on "Family" and "Empty Nest", Lebanese descent
  • Wentworth Miller
    Wentworth Miller
    Wentworth Earl Miller III is an English-born American actor; model and screenwriter who rose to stardom following his role as Michael Scofield in the Fox Network television series Prison Break.-Early life:...

    , actor on Prison Break
    Prison Break
    Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...

    , Lebanese-Syrian from mother's side
  • Najee Mondalek
    Najee Mondalek
    Najee Mondalek is an Arab-American actor who "has been called the Jerry Seinfeld of Arab-American culture."-Biography:Born in Lebanon, Najee Mondalek grew up in a dreadful and unsecured environment where he spent much of his early childhood witnessing Lebanon's civil war...

    , actor/playwright, Lebanese descent
  • Alissa Musto
    Alissa Musto
    Alissa Musto is an American singer and child pianist.She is the winner of the 2007 New England Performs competition, a talent competition with several thousand competitors from all over New England. She held the 2008 championship title for "Rhode Island's Got Talent" where she beat several adults...

    , singer/pianist, of partial Arab descent. She has sold records in Germany and New Zealand and has received radio time in Australia.
  • Kathy Najimy
    Kathy Najimy
    Kathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...

    , actress, Lebanese descent
  • George Noory
    George Noory
    George Ralph Noory is a Lebanese-American radio talk show host.As of 2010, he is the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM. He is heard across the United States and Canada on many AM and FM stations as well as on XM Satellite Radio. His show is one of the most listened...

     radio broadcaster of late-night paranormal
    Paranormal
    Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...

    -themed radio talk show Coast to Coast AM
    Coast to Coast AM
    Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...

    , Lebanese
  • Jehane Noujaim
    Jehane Noujaim
    Jehane Noujaim is an Egyptian American documentary film director best known for her films Control Room, Startup.com and Pangea Day.- Career :Jehane Noujaim is a filmmaker, born in Washington DC and raised in Kuwait and Cairo....

    , film director, Egyptian-American
  • Michael Nouri
    Michael Nouri
    Michael Nouri is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as Nick Hurley, in the 1983 film Flashdance. He has had recurring roles in numerous television series, including NCIS as Eli David, the father of Mossad officer Ziva David, The O.C. as Dr...

    , actor, Lebanese descent
  • Dean Obeidallah
    Dean Obeidallah
    Dean Obeidallah is a Palestinian-American/Italian-American comedian, who was born in Lodi, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Paramus. His father was born in Battir, Palestine- a small village near Bethlehem; his mother's parents were born in Sicily...

    , comedian, Palestinian father
  • Naomi Shihab Nye
    Naomi Shihab Nye
    Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet, songwriter, and novelist. She was born to a Palestinian father and American mother. Although she regards herself as a "wandering poet", she refers to San Antonio as her home.-Career:...

    , poet/songwriter, Palestinian father
  • Heather Raffo
    Heather Raffo
    Heather Raffo is an Lucille Lortel Award-winning Iraqi American playwright and actress, best known for her leading role in the one-woman play 9 Parts of Desire.-Early life:...

    , actress/playwright, Iraqi father
  • Heba Salama, photographer, winner of season 6 of hit NBC show, The Biggest Loser
    The Biggest Loser
    The Biggest Loser is an American reality game show that debuted on NBC October 19, 2004. The show features obese people competing to win a cash prize by losing the highest percentage of weight relative to their initial weight....

    , The Biggest Loser: Families
    The Biggest Loser: Families
    The Biggest Loser: Families is the sixth season of the NBC reality television series The Biggest Loser. The sixth season premiered on September 16, 2008, featuring Alison Sweeney as the host and Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels as the contestants' trainers.The cast was revealed on August 29, 2008...

     Egyptian descent
  • Jerry Seinfeld
    Jerry Seinfeld
    Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...

    , Actor, mother is of Syrian Jewish descent.
  • Tom Shadyac
    Tom Shadyac
    Thomas Peter "Tom" Shadyac is an American comedian, director, screenwriter, and producer. Shadyac, who was the youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, is widely known for writing and directing the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, and the...

    , comedian, Lebanese
  • Mila Khalfi, American Actor/Film Director of Algerian descent
  • Tony Shalhoub
    Tony Shalhoub
    Anthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...

    , three-time Emmy Award-winning television actor on Monk
    Monk (TV series)
    Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...

    , Lebanese
  • Alia Shawkat
    Alia Shawkat
    Alia Martine Shawkat is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Maeby Fünke in the Fox series Arrested Development.- Personal life :...

    , actress on Arrested Development, Iraqi father
  • Soraya
    Soraya (musician)
    Soraya was an American singer/songwriter, guitarist, arranger and record producer.A successful Colombian music star, she had two number-one songs on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay charts...

    , singer/songwriter, mother is part-Lebanese
  • James Stacy
    James Stacy
    James Stacy is an American actor. A motorcycle crash left him a multiple amputee and took the life of his girlfriend in 1973. After his recovery, he returned to acting in 1975 before retiring in 1991.-Early life and career:...

    , actor, father is of Lebanese descent
  • Vic Tayback
    Vic Tayback
    Victor "Vic" Tayback was an American actor.-Life and career:Tayback was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, the son of Helen and Najeeb James Tayback. His parents were immigrants from Aleppo, Syria. Tayback moved with his family to Burbank, California, during his teenage years and attended...

    , actor, Syrian parents
  • Paola Turbay
    Paola Turbay
    Paola Turbay Gómez is a Colombian-American actress of Lebanese descent, model, and television presenter.Turbay represented Bogotá in the Miss Colombia beauty pageant, which she won in 1991...

    , actress, father is of Lebanese descent
  • Danny Thomas
    Danny Thomas
    Danny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...

    , actor, Lebanese parents
  • Marlo Thomas
    Marlo Thomas
    Margaret Julia “Marlo” Thomas is an American actress, producer, and social activist known for her starring role on the TV series That Girl . She also serves as National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...

    , actress, Lebanese descent
  • Tony Thomas, producer, Lebanese descent
  • Tiffany (singer)
    Tiffany (singer)
    Tiffany Renee Darwish , known popularly as Tiffany, is an American singer and former teen icon. She is most notable for her 1987 cover version of "I Think We're Alone Now", originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells in 1967. Released as the second single from her eponymous album, Tiffany,...

    , born Tiffany Renee Darwish, singer, father is of Lebanese descent
  • Vince Vaughn
    Vince Vaughn
    Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...

    , actor, Lebanese ancestry
  • Amy Yasbeck
    Amy Yasbeck
    Amy Marie Yasbeck is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chapel Davenport on the sitcom Wings from 1994-1997.-Early life:...

    , actress, half Lebanese
  • David Yazbek
    David Yazbek
    David Yazbek is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals The Full Monty , Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown ....

    , songwriter and musician, half Lebanese
  • Frank Zappa
    Frank Zappa
    Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

    , musician, part Lebanese father
  • Karl Wolf
    Karl Wolf
    Carl Abou Samah is a Lebanese-born Canadian musician based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is better known by his stage name Karl Wolf. He has been a singer, songwriter and producer since 2001, releasing his first solo album Face Behind the Face on MapleNationwide/Universal in January 2006,...

    , Lebanese-born Canadian musician

Politics

  • James Abdnor
    James Abdnor
    James Abdnor is a Republican politician from the state of South Dakota.-Personal:He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1945 where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He served in the United States Army during World War II and from 1957 to 1969 was a member of the South Dakota...

    , U.S. Senator (D-S.D.) (1981–1987)
  • James Abourezk
    James Abourezk
    James George Abourezk is a former Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator, and was the first Arab-American to serve in the United States Senate. He represented South Dakota in the U.S...

    , U.S. Senator (D-S.D.) (1973–1979) (Lebanese ancestry)
  • Spencer Abraham
    Spencer Abraham
    Edmund Spencer Abraham is a former United States Senator from Michigan. He served as the tenth United States Secretary of Energy, serving under President George W. Bush. Abraham is one of the founders of the Federalist Society....

    , U.S. Secretary of Energy (2001–2005) and U.S. Senator (R-Mich.) (1995–2001) (Lebanese ancestry)
  • Justin Amash
    Justin Amash
    Justin Amash, , is an American attorney, politician, and member of Congress. He has been the U.S. Representative for which encompasses the Grand Rapids area, since 2011....

    , U.S. Representative, (R-Mich.)2009-) Palestinian and Syrian descent
  • Victor G. Atiyeh
    Victor G. Atiyeh
    Victor George Atiyeh is an American politician, elected the 32nd Governor of Oregon in 1978. A member of the Republican Party, Atiyeh was the first elected governor of Arab descent in the United States, serving eight years from 1979 through 1987...

    , Governor of Oregon
    Oregon
    Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

     (R) (1979–1987)
  • John Baldacci
    John Baldacci
    John Elias Baldacci is an American politician who served as the 73rd Governor of the U.S. state of Maine from 2003 until 2011. A Democrat, he also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003....

    , Governor of Maine
    Maine
    Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

     (D) (2003– ) (Lebanese mother)
  • Mitchell Daniels, Governor of Indiana
    Indiana
    Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

     (R) (2005– ) (father is of Syrian descent)
  • Pat Danner
    Pat Danner
    Patsy Ann "Pat" Danner is an American politician. She formerly represented the Missouri's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. She is a Democrat.-Education and background:...

    , U.S. Congresswoman (D-Mo.) (1993–2001)
  • Brigitte Gabriel
    Brigitte Gabriel
    ‎Brigitte Gabriel is the pseudonym, of a Lebanese American journalist, author, and activist. Gabriel says that Islam keeps countries backward, and that it teaches terrorism...

    , pro-Israel
    Israel lobby in the United States
    The Israel lobby is a term used to describe the diverse coalition of those who, as individuals and as groups, seek and have sought to influence the foreign policy of the United States in support of Zionism, Israel or the specific policies of its government...

     activist and founder of the American Congress For Truth
    American Congress For Truth
    Gabriel formed ACT when she felt stirred to do something after 9/11 to warn the Western world about the dangers of Islamic fundamentalists.In an interview of Gabriel that was published in The New York Times in August 2008, she was asked: "Are you underwritten by the C.I.A.?" She replied, "No. Are...

     (immigrated from Lebanon)
  • Philip Charles Habib, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and Special Envoy to Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

     (Lebanese)
  • Lisa Halaby (a.k.a. Queen Noor), Queen-consort of Jordan
    Jordan
    Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

     and wife of King Hussein of Jordan (Syrian grandfather)
  • Darrell Issa
    Darrell Issa
    Darrell Edward Issa is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 48th, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was formerly a CEO of Directed Electronics, the Vista, California-based manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products...

    , U.S. Congressman (R-Cal.) (2001– ) (Lebanese father)
  • Chris John
    Chris John
    Christopher Charles "Chris" John is American politician who was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 to 2005, representing Louisiana's 7th congressional district.-Early life:...

    , U.S. Congressman (D-La.) (1997–2005) (Lebanese ancestry)
  • Abraham Kazen
    Abraham Kazen
    Abraham Kazen, Jr., usually known as Chick Kazen was a U.S. Representative from Texas from 1967 to 1985.- Education :...

    , U.S. Congressman (D-Texas) (1967–1985) (Lebanese ancestry)
  • Ray LaHood
    Ray LaHood
    Raymond H. "Ray" LaHood is a Republican politician from Illinois who is currently the United States Secretary of Transportation, having served since 2009. Previously, he represented the Illinois's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for seven terms .-Early life and...

    , U.S. Congressman (R-Ill.) (1995–2009), U.S. Secretary of Transportation (2009– ) (Lebanese and Jordanian ancestry)
  • George J. Mitchell
    George J. Mitchell
    George John Mitchell, Jr., is the former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace under the Obama administration. A Democrat, Mitchell was a United States Senator who served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995...

    , U.S. Senator (D-Maine) (1980–1995) (Lebanese mother)
  • Ralph Nader
    Ralph Nader
    Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....

    , consumer advocate and frequent presidential candidate (Lebanese parents)
  • Jimmy Naifeh, the Speaker
    Speaker (politics)
    The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

     of the Tennessee House of Representatives
    Tennessee House of Representatives
    The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...

     (D) (Lebanese ancestry)
  • Mary Rose Oakar
    Mary Rose Oakar
    Mary Rose Oakar is an American Democratic politician and former member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio, the first Democratic woman elected to the United States Congress from that state....

    , U.S. Congresswoman (D-Ohio) (1977–1993)
  • Jeanine Pirro
    Jeanine Pirro
    Jeanine Ferris Pirro is a former prosecutor, judge, and elected official from the state of New York, who is currently a legal analyst and television personality. A Republican from Westchester County, Pirro served as a county court judge before serving as the elected District Attorney of...

    , former Westchester County District Attorney and New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

     Republican attorney general candidate (Lebanese parents)
  • Nick Rahall
    Nick Rahall
    Nick Joe Rahall II is the U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 3rd congressional district, serving since 1977. Rahall is currently Ranking Member of the House Resources Committee. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes much of the southern portion of the state, including...

    , U.S. Congressman (D-W.Va.) (1977– ) (Lebanese ancestry)
  • Donna Shalala
    Donna Shalala
    Donna Edna Shalala served for eight years as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and has been president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida, since 2001. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest...

    , U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (1993–2001) (Lebanese parents)
  • John E. Sununu
    John E. Sununu
    John Edward Sununu is a former Republican United States Senator from New Hampshire, of Lebanese and Palestinian Christian ancestry. Sununu was the youngest member of the Senate for his entire six year term. He is the son of former New Hampshire Governor John H...

    , U.S. Senator (R-N.H.) (2003–2009) (father is of Lebanese and Palestinian ancestry)
  • John H. Sununu
    John H. Sununu
    John Henry Sununu is a former Governor of New Hampshire and former White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. He is the father of John E. Sununu, a former senator from New Hampshire, and formerly a U.S. Representative...

    , Governor of New Hampshire
    New Hampshire
    New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

     (R) (1983–1989) and Chief of Staff
    White House Chief of Staff
    The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...

     to George H.W. Bush (Lebanese and Palestinian ancestry)

Sports

  • Hocine Khalfi
    Hocine Khalfi
    Hocine Khalfi was an Algerian-American boxer from Oran, Algeria. He was orphaned at the age of seven and raised by his aunt. Khalfi, who started boxing at the age of 17, quickly rose through the ranks. He was the Featherweight champion of Algeria in 1945...

    , Algerian-American Pro Boxer
  • Justin Abdelkader
    Justin Abdelkader
    Justin Abdelkader is an American ice hockey forward currently playing for the Detroit Red Wings.-College career:On April 7, 2007 Abdelkader scored the game-winning goal in the 2007 NCAA Championship Game against Boston College, securing the NCAA Division 1 National Championship for Michigan State...

    , an American
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

     ice hockey
    Ice hockey
    Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

     forward
    Forward (ice hockey)
    In ice hockey, a forward is a player position on the ice whose primary responsibility is to score goals. Generally, the forwards try to stay in three different lanes, also known as thirds, of the ice going from goal to goal. It is not mandatory however, to stay in a lane. Staying in a lane aids in...

     playing for the Detroit Red Wings
    Detroit Red Wings
    The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

     of the National Hockey League
    National Hockey League
    The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

     (NHL).
  • Omar Hassan
    Omar Hassan (skateboarder)
    Omar Hassan is a professional skateboarder from Costa Mesa, California. He has competed in numerous competitions, including the X Games.He is sponsored by Black Label, Independent Trucks, Vans, Quiksilver, Ford, and Black Flys.-References:...

    , pro Skateboarder
  • Vince Dooley
    Vince Dooley
    Vincent Joseph Dooley was the head football coach and athletic director at the University of Georgia. During his 25 year coaching career at UGA, Dooley compiled a 201–77–10 record. His teams won six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship...

  • Dina Al-Sabah
    Dina Al-Sabah
    Dina Ali Fahad Al-Salim Al-Sabah is a professional figure competitor from Kuwait. She stands out from the rest of the Figure competitors for being the only female Arab athlete to achieve pro card status as of 2006; as well as the first female Arab athlete to ever stand on the Olympia stage...

    , She is of Kuwait
    Kuwait
    The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

    i descent.
  • Doug Flutie
    Doug Flutie
    Douglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...

    , NFL player (Lebanese)
  • Jeff George
    Jeff George
    Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" George is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts with the first overall pick of the 1990 NFL Draft...

    , NFL quarterback (Lebanese descent)
  • Sam Khalifa
    Sam Khalifa
    Sam Khalifa , is a former Major League Baseball player. The seventh overall pick in the 1982 June draft. He played 164 games across three seasons in the majors, most as a shortstop and all as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates...

  • Khalid Khannouchi
    Khalid Khannouchi
    Khalid Khannouchi is a Moroccan American marathoner. He was born in Meknes, Morocco. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km distance. He is one of only five men to break the marathon world record more than once, and one of only four...

    , athlete marathon runner
  • Bobby Rahal
    Bobby Rahal
    Robert "Bobby" Woodward Rahal is an American auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500...

     (Lebanese ancestry)
  • Rony Seikaly
    Rony Seikaly
    Ronald Fred "Rony" Seikaly is a retired Lebanese-born American professional basketball player.-Early life:Seikaly was born in Beirut, Lebanon. At the age of 9, Rony moved from Beirut where he'd been attending elementary school at the Athenee de Beirut to Greece, where he spent the rest of his youth...

      (Lebanese descent)
  • Kelly Slater
    Kelly Slater
    Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer known for his competitive prowess and style. He has been crowned ASP World Champion a record 11 times, including 5 consecutive titles from 1994–98. He is the youngest and the oldest to win the title...

  • Joe Lahoud
    Joe Lahoud
    Joseph Michael Lahoud is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as an outfielder and designated hitter, for the Boston Red Sox , Milwaukee Brewers , California Angels , Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals...

    , MLB player for Boston & California (Lebanese desecnt)
  • Faryd Mondragón, MLS player for Philadelphia Union (Lebanese Parents)
  • Alaa Abdelnaby
    Alaa Abdelnaby
    Alaa Abdelnaby is a retired Egyptian-American professional basketball player. He played for Duke University in college and then played in the NBA and CBA, among other leagues.-Early life:Abdelnaby was born in Cairo, Egypt...

    , Played for Duke and 5 years in the NBA (Note: Abdelnaby is from Egypt's Coptic Christian community, whose members may not necessarily self-identify as Arab)
  • Gibran Hamdan
    Gibran Hamdan
    Gibran Latif Hamdan is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League and NFL Europa. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 2003 NFL Draft...

    , NFL QB (Palestinian and Pakistani descent)
  • Tarek Saleh
    Tarek Saleh
    Tarek Muhammad Saleh is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played for the Carolina Panthers and the Cleveland Browns . He was born in Woodbridge, Connecticut; he attended Notre Dame High School , and the University of Wisconsin.- External links :*...

    , Former NFL LB/FB for the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns.

Writers

  • Gibran Khalil Gibran, author and member of the New York Pen League, well known for his best-selling book The Prophet
    The Prophet (book)
    The Prophet is a book of 26 poetic essays written in English by the Lebanese artist, philosopher and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf. It is Gibran's best known work...

  • Diana Abu-Jaber
    Diana Abu-Jaber
    Diana Abu-Jaber is Jordanian American author and a professor at Portland State University. She was born in Syracuse, New York. Her father was Jordanian and her mother was American, descended from Irish and German roots. At the age of seven she moved with her family for two years to Jordan...

    , novelist, author of Arabian Jazz
    Arabian Jazz
    Arabian Jazz is a novel written by Diana Abu-Jaber and published in 1993.This fictional work traces the occurrences of an immigrant Jordanian family and their integration into American society...

    and Crescent
    Crescent
    In art and symbolism, a crescent is generally the shape produced when a circular disk has a segment of another circle removed from its edge, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points .In astronomy, a crescent...

  • Elia Abu Madi
    Elia Abu Madi
    Elia Abu Madi was a Lebanese-American poet.-Life and career:Abu Madi was born in the village of Al-Muhaydithah, now part of Bikfaya, Lebanon, in 1889 or 1890...

    , poet, publisher and member of the New York Pen League
  • Etel Adnan
    Etel Adnan
    Etel Adnan is a Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and visual artist.In 2003 MELUS, the journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, called Adnan "arguably the most celebrated and accomplished Arab American author writing today."She has said, "As for any...

    , poet, essayist, and visual artist
  • Lorraine Ali
    Lorraine Ali
    Lorraine Ali is a reporter, editor and culture writer for many publications, including Newsweek where she is a Contributing Editor. She covers culture at large as well as pop culture, and writes frequently about the Middle East and Iraq in pieces such as "When Home Becomes Hell"...

    , (Iraqi) reporter, editor, culture writer and music critic for Newsweek
    Newsweek
    Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

    .
  • William Peter Blatty
    William Peter Blatty
    William Peter Blatty is an American writer and filmmaker. The novel The Exorcist, written in 1971, is his magnum opus; he also penned the subsequent screenplay version of the film, for which he won an Academy Award....

    , author of The Exorcist
    The Exorcist
    The Exorcist is a novel of supernatural suspense by William Peter Blatty, published by Harper & Row in 1971. It was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school...

  • Catherine Filloux
    Catherine Filloux
    Catherine Filloux is a French-Algerian-American playwright. She has received awards from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the O'Neill, the Rockefeller MAP Fund, and the Asian Cultural Council. In 2003 she was a Fullbright Senior Specialist in playwriting in Cambodia.Filloux's plays...

    , French-Algerian-American playwright
  • Suheir Hammad
    Suheir Hammad
    Suheir Hammad is a Palestinian-American poet, author and political activist. She was born in Amman, Jordan. Her parents were Palestinian refugees who immigrated along with their daughter to Brooklyn, New York City when she was five years old...

    , poet, playwright, artist, Tony Award
    Tony Award
    The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

     winner, 2003 (Russel Simmons
    Russel Simmons
    Russel Simmons is a co-founder of Yelp, Inc..He was previously an early employee of PayPal.- References :...

     Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway)
  • Samuel John Hazo
    Samuel John Hazo
    Dr. Samuel John Hazo is an author of books, including poetry, fiction, essays and plays, and the founder and director of the International Poetry Forum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also McAnulty Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus at Duquesne University, where he taught for...

    , State Poet of Pennsylvania
  • Lawrence Joseph
    Lawrence Joseph
    Lawrence Joseph is an American poet, writer, essayist, critic, lawyer, and professor of law.-Life:Joseph's grandparents, Lebanese Maronite and Syrian Melkite Eastern Catholics, were among the first Arab Americans to emigrate to Detroit, where both Joseph's parents were born...

    , poet
  • Daoud Kuttab
    Daoud kuttab
    Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian journalist. He is considered to be a moderate voice among the Palestinians. He is the director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University and founder/general director of "AmmanNet", the Arab world's first internet radio station...

    , award winning Palestinian journalist. Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University
  • Lisa Suhair Majaj
    Lisa Suhair Majaj
    Lisa Suhair Majaj is a Palestinian-American poet and scholar. Born in Hawarden, Iowa, Majaj was raised in Jordan. She earned a B.A. in English literature from American University of Beirut and a M.A., A.B.D. in English literature and American culture from the University of Michigan. Her poetry...

    , poet and literary scholar
  • Jack Marshall (author)
    Jack Marshall (author)
    Jack Marshall is an award-winning American poet and author born to an Iraqi father and a Syrian mother of Jewish heritage.-Upbringing:...

    , poet and author (Iraqi father/Syrian mother)
  • Khaled Mattawa
    Khaled Mattawa
    Khaled Mattawa is a Libyan poet, and a renowned Arab-American writer, he is also a leading literary translator, focusing on translating Arabic poetry into English...

    , poet and recipient of an Academy of American Poets
    Academy of American Poets
    The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...

     award
  • Claire Messud
    Claire Messud
    Claire Messud is an American novelist. She is best known as the author of the 2006 novel The Emperor's Children.-Early life:...

    , author, Algerian
  • Mikhail Naimy, Nobel Prize-nominated author and member of the New York Pen League; well-known works include The Book of Mirdad
    The Book of Mirdad
    The Book of Mirdad is a mystical parable written by the Lebanese author and mystic Mikha'il Na'ima. It consists of 37 chapters, which oftent describe Na'ima's view of the world. It draws on a variety of philosophies, including that of Leo Tolstoy and Sufi Islam...

    and a biography of Khalil Gibran
    Khalil Gibran
    Khalil Gibran Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān,Jibrān Khalīl Jibrān, or Jibrān Xalīl Jibrān; Arabic , January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) also known as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer...

  • Naomi Shihab Nye
    Naomi Shihab Nye
    Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet, songwriter, and novelist. She was born to a Palestinian father and American mother. Although she regards herself as a "wandering poet", she refers to San Antonio as her home.-Career:...

    , poet
  • Ameen Rihani, "father of Arab American literature," member of the New York Pen League and author of The Book of Khalid
    The Book of Khalid
    The Book of Khalid is a novel by Arab-American writer Ameen Rihani. Composed during a sojourn in the mountains of Lebanon, it is considered to be the first novel by an Arab-American writer in English...

    ,
    the first Arab American novel in English; also an ambassador
  • Abraham Rihbany, writer on politics and religion
  • Anthony Shadid
    Anthony Shadid
    Anthony Shadid is a foreign correspondent for The New York Times based in Baghdad and Beirut. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting twice, in 2004 and 2010.-Career:...

  • Mona Simpson, author of Anywhere but Here

Others

  • Joseph Abboud
    Joseph Abboud
    Joseph Abboud is an award-winning Lebanese American menswear fashion designer and author.-Family:The Abboud family was a working-class Christian Lebanese family that started out in the South End of Boston and later moved to the Roslindale section of Boston. Abboud's mother, Lila, was a seamstress...

     (1950 – ), menswear fashion designer and author (Lebanese descent)
  • Reem Acra
    Reem Acra
    Reem Acra is an internationally known Lebanese fashion designer. She studied in Paris, as well as New York. She is known for her bridal designs. Her designs are sold in famous clothing boutiques such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. She has been on several popular magazines including In...

     – Is an internationally known Lebanese fashion designer.
  • Nihad Awad
    Nihad Awad
    Nihad Awad is the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations .- Early life :Nihad Awad was born in Amman New Camp, a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. He studied at Second Amman Preparatory School for Boys, located at the camp and belongs to UNRWA, and at Salaheddine...

    , Palestinian & founding Executive Director of largest Muslim civil rights organization in the U.S., Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)
  • Wahbi Al-Hariri
    Wahbi Al-Hariri
    Mohamed Wahbi Al-Hariri Rifai , OAL, was an Arab-American artist, architect, and author.-Biography:Wahbi Al-Hariri was born in 1914 in Aleppo, Syria. He also lived in France, Italy, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United States of America....

    , artist and architect (Syrian) Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
    Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
    The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...

     (fr.)
  • Rosemary Barkett
    Rosemary Barkett
    Rosemary Barkett is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Prior to her nomination for that post, she was Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, where she was the first woman ever to serve on that court.- Background :Barkett has had an unusual career...

    , federal judge and first woman Justice and Chief Justice on the Florida Supreme Court (Syrian)
  • Zaida Ben-Yusuf
    Zaida Ben-Yusuf
    Zaida Ben-Yusuf was a New York-based portrait photographer noted for her artistic portraits of wealthy, fashionable, and famous Americans of the turn of the 19th-20th century. She was born in London to a German mother and an Algerian father, but became a naturalised American citizen later in life...

     (1869–1933) portrait photographer. Ben-Yusuf was born in London to an Algerian Muslim father and a German mother of Algerian descent. She immigrated to New York in 1897.
  • Hussein Ibish
    Hussein Ibish
    Hussein Yusuf Kamal Ibish is a Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1963. He has a Ph.D. in Comparative literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is active in advocacy for Arab causes in the United States...

     (Lebanese)
  • Nabil Kanso
    Nabil Kanso
    Nabil Kanso is a Lebanese-American painter born in Beirut, Lebanon.His works deal with contemporary, historical and literary themes, and are marked by figurative imagery executed with spontaneous and vigorous handling of the paint and often done on large-scale formats...

    , artist (Lebanese descent)
  • Candice Lightner, founder of (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) MADD
    Mothers Against Drunk Driving
    Mothers Against Drunk Driving is a non-profit organization in the United States that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and overall push for stricter alcohol policy...

     (Lebanese mother)
  • Edward L. Masry
    Edward L. Masry
    Edward Louis Masry was a partner in the law firm of Masry & Vititoe and a city councilman.-Biography:He was born on July 29, 1932 in Paterson, New Jersey....

    , lawyer (Lebanese descent)
  • Walid Rabah
    Walid Rabah
    Walid Rabah is a New Jersey-based Arab American publisher.In 2002 Walid Rabah was accused of antisemitism after he published in his Arabic-language newspaper The Arab Voice excerpts from "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", an antisemitic forgery purporting to be the outline of a Jewish plot for...

  • Karim Rashid
    Karim Rashid
    Karim Rashid is an industrial designer. He received a Bachelor in Industrial Design from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada in 1982 and completed his postgraduate studies in Italy....

     (Lebanese descent)
  • Zainab Salbi
    Zainab Salbi
    Zainab Salbi is an Iraqi American writer, activist and social entrepreneur who is co-founder and president of Washington-based Women for Women International.-Early years:...

     co-founder and president for Women for Women International
    Women for Women International
    Women for Women International is an international organization advocating for women's rights.-Organization and mission: is a humanitarian organization that provides financial and emotional support to women survivors of war. Their programs help women achieve self-sufficiency through direct aid,...

     (Iraqi)
  • Nadya Suleman
    Nadya Suleman
    Nadya Denise Doud-Suleman , known as Octomom in the media, is an American woman who came to international attention when she gave birth to octuplets in January 2009. The Suleman octuplets are only the second full set of octuplets to be born alive in the United States...

    , "Octomom", father is Iraqi
  • John Zogby
    John Zogby
    John Zogby is an American political pollster and first senior fellow at The Catholic University of America's Life Cycle Institute. He is the founder, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling firm known for both phone polling and interactive, Internet-based polling.-Early years:Zogby...

    , pollster for Zogby International
    Zogby International
    IBOPE Zogby International is an international market research, opinion polling firm founded in 1984 by John Zogby. The company polls and consults for a wide spectrum of business media, government, and political groups, and conducts public opinion research in more than 70 countries...

     (Lebanese descent)
  • James Zogby
    James Zogby
    James J. Zogby is the author of Arab Voices and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute , a Washington, D.C.–based organization which serves as a political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. He is a senior analyst with his brother's polling firm, Zogby...

    , Arab-American civil rights activist (Arab-American Institute); brother of John (Lebanese descent)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK