Business & Finance Club - Qatar: All higher education institutions in Qatar's Education City have been brought under the umbrella of the Qatar Foundation (QF), forming a new university with higher educational programmes focussing on research.

Provisionally named the Education City University (ECU), the university will be headed by Sheikh Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani, who has been designated as president.

Currently, branches of six US universities are delivering a select range of their undergraduate and graduate programmes at the Education City. They are Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar, Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar and Northwestern University in Qatar.

Besides, the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies offers Diploma and Masters programmes in a number of areas, and an agreement has been signed with HEC Paris to provide executive management training in Qatar.

In her address at the Senior Convocation 2010, Qatar Foundation Chairperson HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad spoke of the need to focus on collaborative and complementary activities “in order to draw maximum benefit from our combined skills and experience”.
“The time has come to commence the execution of an advanced phase of this important national project, since all the elements which will ensure its success are now in place,” Sheikha Mozah said.
Speaking of his new role,  Sheikh Abdulla said: “I shall be seeking new ways to deploy the resources at our disposal for the benefit of the many stakeholders of Qatar Foundation while, of course, preserving the distinct identity of each of our members. In so doing, we shall deliver high-quality higher educational programmes with a focus on research.”
He said: “We now have at Education City a collection of top academic centres, pursuing their separate missions of learning and teaching, research, and community service. Over the past decade, they have made a considerable impact upon our society. However, much more can be accomplished by operating as an integrated, multi-disciplinary institution.”
Sheikh Abdulla had been working as vice president-education at Qatar Foundation since 2005, helping direct Qatar’s flagship organisation. As part of his mandate, Sheikh Abdulla has explored and identified new academic ventures, programmes and research opportunities to be established within Education City. He is at the forefront of Qatar Foundation’s Central Library project which will, when completed, have one of the largest collections in the Middle East.
Before joining Qatar Foundation, Sheikh Abdulla was an assistant professor in Civil Engineering at Qatar University, which he joined in 1993. He has also worked with the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute, a think tank assisting with public-sector reform in Qatar, where he focused on initiatives to foster quality and innovation at the national level.