Dr. Habib Al-Badawi, Professor of Modern History, Japanese Studies at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at the Lebanese University, won the "Academic Excellence Award in the Arab World” for the category of “Academic Personality of the Year 2018" for his role in introducing the "Japanese studies" to the Arab world as a stand-alone academic field of "Human Sciences".

The Embassy of Japan nominated Dr. Habib for the award through the Asian Cultural Center. The event was sponsored by the Arab Publishers Association, International Federation for Public History, Asian Studies Graduate Association, Egyptian Association For Scientific & Technological Development and Kan Foundation for Studies, Translation and Publishing.