[5] AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs leading to bachelor's, master's, MD, and PhD degrees.

On January 23, 1862, W. M. Thomson proposed to a meeting of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions that a college of higher learning, that would include medical training, should be established in Beirut with Dr. Daniel Bliss as its president.

AUB graduates continue to serve in leadership positions as presidents of their countries, prime ministers, members of parliament, ambassadors, governors of central banks, presidents and deans of colleges and universities, academics, business people, scientists, engineers, doctors, teachers, and nurses.

[citation needed] During the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) AUB pursued various means to preserve the continuity of studies, including enrollment agreements with universities in the United States.

In 1982 acting president David S. Dodge was kidnapped on campus by pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim extremists.

[11][12] On January 18, 1984, AUB President Malcolm H. Kerr was murdered outside his office by members of Islamic Jihad, which preceded the Hezbollah.

[17][18] Another source states that Hassan Abd al-Nabih, a senior intelligence officer in the South Lebanon Army was accused of being responsible.

AUBMC, which is accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCIA) on hospital accreditation, includes a 420-bed hospital and offers comprehensive tertiary/quaternary medical care and referral services in a wide range of specialties and medical, nursing, and paramedical training programs at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

[citation needed] Throughout its history, the AUB Medical Center, which was formerly known as the American University Hospital (AUH), has played a critical role in caring for the victims of regional and local conflicts.

In recent years, it has provided care for a number of Syrian refugees at the Medical Center in Beirut, at partner hospitals, and at mobile clinics.

They address health issues endemic to the Arab region such as cancer, heart and vascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, multiple sclerosis, blood disorders, and mental illness.

Its collection includes more than 16,000 objects and 10,000 coins and features pottery, prehistoric flint tools, bronze figurines, Phoenician and classical sculptures and bas-reliefs, Egyptian alabaster vases from Byblos, hairpins, and musical instruments.

of interest to scholars of Lebanon and the region including the Beirut Codex,[47] a New Testament in Syriac, dating back to the ninth or tenth century; the E. W. Blatchford Collection[48] (photographs of the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa taken between 1880 and 1900); and political and cultural posters dating back to the 1940s.

The Saleeby donation is the cornerstone upon which AUB will establish a comprehensive collection of modern and contemporary art from the region.

[59] It was established in 1949 and gained official status on July 15, 1957. by a license given to AUB under order no.113 issued by the Lebanese Minister of Information.

It is run by students and is independent from the direct control of the university[59] with an editorial board of at least 12 members appointed annually.

[60] AUB was granted institutional accreditation in June 2004 by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

AACSB is the leading international accrediting agency for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting.

[66] 20 AUB graduates or former students were delegates to the signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco in 1945, including notable alumna Angela Jurdak Khoury, Lebanon's first woman diplomat.

[67] During its 150th celebration in 2016, the university identified "History Makers" – men and women who have distinguished themselves in the areas of Leading, Innovating, and Serving by their accomplishments as scholars, politicians, artists, and in many other fields as well.

[68] The most notable alumna of the American University of Beirut is Angela Jurdak Khoury, who completed her undergraduate studies in 1937 and her master's degree in 1938.