Joseph Elias Aoun

Aoun was born in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. He received a master's degree in oriental languages and literature at the Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut in 1975, a diploma of Advanced Studies in General and Theoretical Linguistics at the University of Paris VIII in 1977, and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981.

Northeastern University

Aoun was named the 7th president of Northeastern University in Boston on June 1, 2006. He assumed office on August 15, 2006.

In July 2007, Northeastern University purchased a 5-story townhouse for President Aoun at 34 Beacon Street for $8.9 million.

In November 2009, Aoun and the Board of Trustees oversaw the cancelling of the Northeastern Huskies football program. The program was 8–26 in its preceding three seasons and faced declining attendance and high costs if it wished to remain competitive in recruiting. The move, while controversial, was generally considered positive in retrospect; the funding it freed up allowed for the construction of the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex, which played more directly into Northeastern's strengths. Aoun later said he was overwhelmed with calls from other college presidents asking how he managed the feat without enraging alumni.

Aoun's 2018 salary was around $1.5–1.8 million dollars. In spring 2020, Aoun announced he would donate 20% of his annual salary (~$290,000) to new funds meant to support students facing economic hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and to support research programs related to the crisis. In 2021, his salary reached $2.7 million.

Aoun joined the University of Southern California (USC) in 1982 as a faculty member in linguistics. During his time at USC, he served as head of the academic Senate and eventually became a Dean. His success in fund-raising allowed for the hiring of multiple professors, the creation of named chairs backed by endowments, and the creation of two new sub-departments for the study of Armenian and Korean.

He is married to his wife Zeina; the couple has two sons, Adrian and Joseph Karim.