King’s Academy is pleased to announce the appointment of Soha Hmaidan as the school’s new chief advancement officer.

Beirut native Hmaidan joined King’s Academy in 2021 as chief operating officer and was responsible for overseeing non-academic and operational processes across the institution. Hmaidan holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in business administration from the American University of Beirut (AUB). She has over 30 years of experience across a wide range of professional areas including operations and advancement, with expertise in higher education.

Prior to joining King’s, Hmaidan was the associate vice president for advancement services and university events at AUB. Her work included building the infrastructure for AUB’s $650M capital campaign “Boldly AUB” and she managed a budget of $10M and over 30 staff. In her more than 22 years of service to AUB, she led a team of professionals operating in a highly volatile and economically challenging environment. She also led the sesquicentennial celebration of AUB, a year-long series of events that received international awards. Hmaidan is an active member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Most recently, she served as the chair of the 2020 planning committee for the CASE Middle Eastern Advancement conference (MEAC).

“In our search for a new chief advancement officer, it turns out the best candidate was already within our ranks, in Soha Hmaidan, who has done exemplary work as COO,” said Head of School Peter Nilsson. “We are truly fortunate for Soha’s deep expertise and versatility, and we are confident she will continue to build on her predecessor’s efforts in introducing new systems and best practices to the office, to advancing alumni relations, prospect research, and annual giving functions and the establishment of the donor and alumni database, in addition to enhancing the stewardship and major giving functions — all in preparation for building a major capital campaign.”

“I am thrilled and excited to be returning to advancement,” said Hmaidan. “I am grateful to the Board of Trustees and the head of school for entrusting me with this responsibility to partner with alumni and friends to advance the mission of King’s Academy.”