Wadi Saliba Rumman passed away on November 25, 2021 in Ann Arbor, MI.  He was born on September 7, 1926 in Beit Jala, Palestine.  Wadi attended the Bishop Gobat School in Jerusalem and then studied at Farouk University in Alexandria, Egypt.  In 1948, he moved to the U.S. and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering in 1949, 1953, and 1959, respectively.  Wadi began his teaching career at the University of Michigan while still a student and continued teaching until his retirement in 1988 as a Professor Emeritus.   Wadi was a leader in advancing the engineering practice in the area of reinforced concrete chimneys.  

Wadi married his wife Doris in 1955 and had two daughters, Mary and Linda.  He is remembered for his strong love of family, great sense of humor and advocacy for Palestine. 

The building of this department was sparked by the untimely death of our founding head social worker, Huda Al Masri, from leukemia in July 2009. At that time, there was no department for children with cancer in the Palestinian ministry of health, meaning that sick patients had to cross military checkpoints on a regular basis – if they could get permits – for treatment. In 2012, we began building the first and only public cancer department for children in Huda’s name at Beit Jala Hospital near the ancient city of Bethlehem. Thanks to thousands of private donors all over the world, we opened the department in April 2013. We continue to support the training of staff, medical missions to the department, repairs, material, and the social and medical needs of patients in the department to continue to ensure that our children fighting this terrible disease have access to the best care possible in the world.