son of hanna and jamileh a christian palestinian family, salem khamis was born on november 22, 1919, in reineh village, palestine. he finished high school in 1938 with distinction at the arab college in jerusalem. he received a british mandate scholarship for studying at the american university of beirut (aub), where he received in 1941 a ba degree in mathematics (major) and physics (minor), and in 1942 an ma in physics.