A Strong Foundation: The Habayeb's Provide an Endowed Fund

According to Elias Habayeb ’93, P’29, his Whitman School education gave him a strong foundation for a decades-long career in the financial industry. In 2024, Habayeb, along with his wife, Michelle, created a new fund to give future students the same foundation.

The Elias and Michelle Habayeb Endowed Fund will provide scholarship and financial assistance to undergraduate students at Whitman, with a focus on first-generation college students.

“Syracuse laid the foundations for me to build my career on, and this is my token give-back to the University,” Habayeb says. He wants the fund to help expand the base of students who can benefit from the quality of education he received.

Habayeb was raised in Lebanon by Palestinian parents and attended high school in Athens, Greece. When he began considering universities in the United States, Syracuse was a top choice because he had several relatives who attended. There have been so many that he’s not quite sure of the exact number. “It’s north of 10,” he says. “Exactly how many is being debated. I was middle of the pack.”

At the time Habayeb was making his college decision, one cousin was a Syracuse student. “Her interests and my interests were aligned,” he says. “She was at Whitman following an accounting degree, and that’s what I was going to do. So I’ve heard through the family about Syracuse quite a bit over the years, and my cousin was there, so it’s kind of continuing the family tradition.”

Although Habayeb had heard of the University from his family, moving from major urban areas internationally to Central New York was “a cultural shock.” But he appreciated the friends he made from all over the world. “I got to meet people from different parts of the U.S., people from South America, parts of Asia that, living in the Middle East and southern Europe, you don’t come across as much,” he says.

Habayeb also found mentors and friends among his Whitman professors. “I had great professors at Syracuse, some that I formed a friendship with, and some that mentored me, especially when it came towards graduation,” he says. “I was considering going back to Greece, and one of the professors convinced me to stay behind in the U.S. and to go get my CPA. And that to me, if you look back, was a fantastic recommendation.”

Taking the Challenge

After graduation, Habayeb started in accounting at Deloitte, where he worked for more than a decade. He has stayed in the financial industry but has taken advantage of opportunities to broaden his experience and pivot to other specialties. He is chief financial officer of Corebridge Financial, formerly AIG’s life and retirement business.

“Syracuse gave me the initial building blocks, and with hard work and determination I built on those blocks, and as opportunities opened up for me, I was able to take the challenge and deliver,” Habayeb says.

Elias and Michelle Habayeb have previously given to the Whitman Dean’s Fund. Michelle also has an accounting background and works as the training director at Caring Contact, a nonprofit that trains volunteers to provide compassionate support on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, where she started as a volunteer. Both Michelle and Elias have long valued philanthropy.

In addition to building a legacy through giving, the Habayeb family tradition at Syracuse is continuing. In the fall, Elias and Michelle’s son Farid will be a first-year student at Whitman. “He followed Syracuse basketball. He was passionate about it, and when he told me that he wanted to go to Syracuse, it was very exciting,” says Habayeb.

For his son and the rest of the next generation of Whitman students, Habayeb has this advice: “To succeed in a career, you’ve got to be passionate. If you don’t wake up excited in the morning to go to work, you’re not going to succeed. It doesn’t matter about the money or the prestige or all that. The key driver for success is passion.”

Students who follow that advice will have a firm foundation for the future.