Dr. Malek Tabbal is the founding dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) at the American University of Beirut – Mediterraneo (AUB Mediterraneo) and a professor of physics at the American University of Beirut (AUB). He has held several key positions at AUB including director of the Leadership, Equity, and Diversity (LEAD) initiative (2018-21), first director of the AUB USAID-University Scholarship Program (2011-19), associate dean of the AUB Faculty of Arts and Sciences (2009-17), and chair of the Department of Physics (2003-05 and 2007-09). He has received several prizes including the AUB Teaching Excellence Award (2004) and the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research Excellence Award (2017).

The focus of Tabbal’s research is the synthesis and characterization of novel functional materials that pave the way for applications in a wide variety of high-impact technological fields. He heads the laser and plasma processing laboratory at AUB and recently initiated research in the field of cultural heritage using advanced materials science analysis techniques to investigate antique glass artifacts that are part of the collecting of the AUB Archaeological Museum.

Tabbal received his BS (1986) and MS (1988) in physics from AUB and his PhD in applied physics (1994) from École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada.​