Dr. Patricia Nabti was born in Santa Rosa, California, USA. Although she received the majority of her early education in the United States, she spent one year as a high school exchange student in Egypt through American Field Service (AFS). Three years later she attended the American University of Beirut in Lebanon for one year on the Stanford- AUB Exchange Program. She later received a BA in Political Science and an MA in Education, both from Stanford University. Patricia then obtained her Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Berkely. In 1992, after teaching for three years at Stanford University's program in Cultures, Ideas, and Values, Patricia became a professor of anthropology at the American University of Beirut (AUB). In 1998, after six years at AUB, she decided to take a (temporary?) leave from academia to found the first and only volunteer association/center in Lebanon: -- the Association for Volunteer Services (AVS). As models for the AVS, she used her experiences as a volunteer both in the United States and in Lebanon and her exposure to the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford, the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County (Santa Rosa, California), and Service-Learning 2000. Patrician, a dual American/Lebanese citizen is the only current member of board or staff of the AVS (a Lebanese organization) to be of foreign origin.
