Rachid Chamoun, PhD in Urban Studies, UIU, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2005; M.Sc. in Urban Design Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y.1985; BFA, Syracuse University, N. Y. 1981. Since 1992 Professor of Architecture and Design and Director of the Urban Planning Institute at the Lebanese American University, Member of the International Network for Urban Research and Action (INURA), the Planners Network (PN), Forum UNESCO-University and Heritage Network, and Director of Internal Affairs for the World Association of Tangible and Intangible cultural heritage (WATCH). Current research in urban studies and cultural heritage is stimulated and shared through the participation of a pluralistic global community that encompasses a broad spectrum of research by scientists, planners, architects, political scientists and other scholars with original views on urban development.