A former student of Pepperdine University, where he earned his bachelor of arts in business, Jamal Daniel serves as chairman of Crest Investment Company. Additionally, Jamal Daniel founded and leads the Levant Foundation, a not-for-profit organization focused on enhancing the visibility and acceptance of the Levant region’s culture.Between 2011 and 2014, the Levant Foundation partnered with Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service to create the Jamal Daniel Fund for the Study of the Levant. During its three years, the fund offered three scholarships to graduate students whose focus was on the Levant region. Further, it aimed to create a minimum of one postdoctoral fellow whose work centered around the study of Levant countries.In addition to this work, the fund also allowed Georgetown to invite a visiting professor in 2011, who taught classes on the Levant region. This work was later assumed by the postdoctoral fellows that the fund helped to create.
Serving as the Chairman of Crest Investment Company, Jamal Daniel draws on his experience of investing in a range of industries, including real estate, oil and gas, manufacturing, and technology. A native of Syria who spent some of his childhood in Lebanon, Jamal Daniel heads the Levant Foundation, a nonprofit that is focused on developing greater understanding about the Levant region and the three religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, that are prevalent in the countries that make up the Levant.The foundation has made a number of grants to support this cause, including a 2014 gift to the American University of Beirut. The grant contributed to the expansion of the institution’s medical center. Supporting the AUBMC 2020 Vision, which aims to improve the standards and delivery of medical care throughout Lebanon, the gift was used in the building of the Halim and Aida Daniel Academic and Clinical Center. Upon its completion in 2016, the building became one of the most modern medical facilities in the country. It houses academic centers focused on clinical research in a range of medical and health areas, including heart disease and psychiatry. Further, the 14-story building plays host to a number of outpatient centers serving patients in Lebanon.
A graduate of Pepperdine University with a bachelor of arts in business, Jamal Daniel went on to complete a master of business administration at the University of Texas at Austin Business School. The chairman of Houston-based Crest Investment Company, Jamal Daniel leveraged his training and experience to establish the Levant Foundation.The Levant Foundation seeks to promote an understanding of Middle Eastern cultures, specifically the relationship between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The foundation accomplishes this goal by collaborating with universities, religious institutions, and fine art institutions to fund artistic and educational programming. Initiatives funded by the Levant Foundation include the Jamal Daniel Fund for the Study of the Levant, which supports students at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. In addition, in 2006, the foundation created an endowment for the University of Texas Press to publish up to three books per year on the three aforementioned monotheistic religions or on issues affecting the people of the Levant region.
With a passion for the Levant region, Jamal Daniel founded the Levant Foundation to increase understanding of the history of this area and create awareness of issues affecting its people. To this end, Jamal Daniel, who is chairman of Crest Investment Company, leads the foundation in collaborating with universities and research organizations, including the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD). In 1999, the Levant Foundation helped establish FIIRD, which created a program in conjunction with the University of Geneva in Switzerland to improve understanding of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. To this end, FIIRD funded several postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Geneva in the 2015-16 academic year. The fellowships were awarded to students with a background in one of the above religions and a desire to specialize in dialogue to foment peace among the people who practice these religions.The postdoctoral fellows form part of an exclusive alumni group of fellows and commited to take part in forums and exchanges to expand interfaith understanding.
Jamal Daniel is currently the Chairman of the Crest Investment Company. Outside of his work, Jamal Daniel serves as Chairman of The Levant Foundation.As part of its larger mission to inform people about the culture of the Levant area, The Levant Foundation is dedicated to educating people about the three major religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) that arose in the Middle East. One of the focuses of the foundation is to provide aid in the form of scholarships and fellowships for post-doctoral students. In 2011, the foundation provided financial support for the Swiss organization The Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FDDI) to offer fellowships to post-graduate students who specialize in one of the three religions. The recipients of the fellowship formed a research group to study the commonalities among the different faiths with the goal of contributing to interreligious dialog and facilitating a deeper understanding between people.
