Jamal Daniel

Dedicated to enhancing knowledge and understanding of the Middle East and the inter-relationships among the three great religions founded there, Crest Investment Company's Jamal Daniel founded the Levant Foundation to work with educational, cultural, research, and religious institutions to achieve that goal. Born in Syria, he studied in Lebanon and Geneva before relocating to the United States, where he earned his Bachelor's degree from Pepperdine University and his MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. A savvy businessman, Jamal Daniel has guided several projects in such diverse areas as real estate, high technology, media and energy. Daniel currently serves Crest Investment as President and Chairman.

Under Jamal Daniel's leadership, the Levant Foundation was instrumental in establishing the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD). The Swiss based Foundation's Board of Trustees includes His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal, of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, His Excellency Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, Apostolic Nuncio in Egypt (who replaced Foundation co-founder and Trustee, His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI), Chief Rabbi Rene-Samuel Sirat, former Chief Rabbi of France, Mr. Sayyed Jawad Al-Khoei, Al-Khoei Foundation, His Eminence Emmanuel Adamakis, Metropolitan of France, Liaison Office of the Orthodox Church to the European Union, Maitre Michel Halperin, Lawyer, Member of the Grand Conseil de la Republique et Canton de Geneve and its President in 2006, His Eminence Professor Damaskinos Papandreou, former Metropolitan of Switzerland and Director of the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (Chambes/Geneva), and Mr. Jamal Daniel, also FIIRD co-founder, current Vice President, and Trustee. FIIRD developed a program with the University of Geneva in Switzerland to pursue its scholarly and humanistic goals with the main objective of fostering understanding of the three monotheistic religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism, all with roots in the Middle East.