Amina Audi, a Lebanese-American amongst the top furniture designers in US

The Lebanese-American Amina Audi was elected as a distinguished furniture industry designer in the American Home Furnishing Hall of Fame Foundation for the year 2015. The jury selected the short-listed candidates for their positions among leading designers based on a number of criteria: continued excellence, outstanding achievement, innovation and creativity and generous humanitarian actions. The five newly elected members were chosen by a 7-member committee as per their contributions to the making and development of the US house furniture. Born in Kfarhazir, Kura, in North Lebanon, and a resident of New York City, Amina Audi began her career in the West as a broadcaster in the Voice of America radio station and later as a teacher at a United Nations-run school. Today, she is the CEO of Stickley, Audi & Co. finest furniture stores founded back in 1900. The company is famed for quality handmade oak furniture uniquely distinctive in its manual wood carving. In addition to her work in the furniture field, Audi chaired many US-based charities. To name some, she served as a member on NYU Board of Trustees and represented the American woman at the UN Human Rights Conference in Vienna 1993 and in the United Nations IVth Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Besides, she carried the title of the best 1997 businesswoman in the State of New York. Furthermore, Audi was honored by many institutions, notably the American Red Cross and by the Lebanese American University. She also received an honorary doctorate from Colgate University. (An Nahar, 7 July 2015)