The first Minister appointed on 19 December 2019, he succeeded Saad Hariri as head of the government, having resigned since 29 October 2019 following major demonstrations that have taken place since the night of 17-18 October.
He resigned on 10 August 2020 following a tug-of-war with parliament over responsibility for the beirut port explosion on 4 August 2020. A few days earlier, Hassan Diab had raised the possibility of holding early parliamentary elections.
Hassan Diab served as Minister of Education and Higher Education from June 2011 to February 2014 in the government of Najib Mikati, of which he is considered a close friend. A chartered engineer at the Engineering Council, UK, certified by the National Professional Engineers Register, Australia, Hassan Diab is also Professor of Computer Engineering in the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the American University of Beirut (AUB).
His specialization in computer science includes cryptography on high-performance computer systems, reconfigurable computing, embedded systems, modeling and simulation of parallel processing systems, as well as simulation of systems using fuzzy logic control, and more recently, higher education in the MENA region.
He was founding dean of the College of Engineering and founding president in 2004-2006 of Dhofar University. In October 2006, he was appointed Vice-President of Regional External Programs (REP) at the AUB. He was also founding dean of the College of Engineering and founding president in 2004-2006 of Dhofar University.
In October 2006, he was appointed Vice-President of Regional External Programs (REP) at the AUB.
He is the father of four children.
