Joseph Habboushe
The Weill Cornell student body—including approximately 400 medical students and 280 graduate students—has elected Joseph Habboushe, a medical student from the Class of 2006, to a three-year term as student overseer. The election of Mr. Habboushe was approved by the Board of Overseers at their meeting on May 7.
As student overseer, Mr. Habboushe will act as intermediary between the Board of Overseers and the student body. He will report on student activities to the Board at their bi-monthly meetings and subcommittee meetings, as well as report back to the student body on the activities of the Board. Mr. Habboushe is also responsible for staying informed on student life by attending student government meetings—those of the Medical Student Executive Committee (MSEC) and the Graduate School Executive Committee (GSEC)—and all student functions. These responsibilities will be facilitated by his management of the Medical College Class of 2006 Web site and his recent visit to Qatar, where he is the first Weill Cornell Medical College student in New York to work at Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar.
Mr. Habboushe explains that his most important responsibility as student overseer is to ensure that students' best interests are considered when the Board initiates new policies or reviews old ones: "It's an exciting time to be at Weill Cornell. We are a growing school, always adapting and innovating to maintain our role as leaders of medical and graduate education. It is at this time of change when policy is made and precedent set. It is therefore a crucial time to have the student body's voice effectively communicated and considered."
Mr. Habboushe graduated from Yale University in 1998 with a B.S. in applied mathematics/physics. He started a small, profitable advertising-based Internet company, which he ran from 1999-2001. Mr. Habboushe's goal is to improve the structure and management of health care by becoming one of a new breed of physicians, trained in both medicine and business.
Photo by Weill Cornell Art & Photo.