Dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar brings prominent industry and government figures to speak

Press release

Published September 16th, 2012 - 05:46 GMT

Ilker Baybars, CMU Dean

In September and October, industry leaders and prominent figures from Qatar’s government and business community will speak at Carnegie Mellon University to begin this year’s Dean's Lecture Series.

H.E. Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education and Secretary General of the Supreme Education Council (SEC), and Scott Hill, Director of the Office of Program Review and Audit at the SEC, will lead a discussion on Qatar's National Education Strategy on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

On October 2, Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, will speak about the national carrier’s strategy, as the airline has grown in a relatively short period of time from operating four aircraft to a modern fleet of over 100 aircraft flying to more than 110 destinations across six continents. The airline will begin to shift its hub to the multi-billion dollar New Doha International Airport at the end of this year.

With this second season of the Dean’s Lecture Series, Ilker Baybars, dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, brings a diverse group of corporate and industry leaders to speak with the university’s community and share insights into their organizational strategies.

“The Dean’s Lecture Series is the principal forum for eminent industry practitioners and government officials to bring their knowledge and perspectives to Carnegie Mellon, and to broaden students’ understanding of important issues,” Baybars said.

In addition to these distinguished speakers, Carnegie Mellon will soon be announcing its Dean’s Panel series, beginning with a discussion on the banking in industry in Qatar. Carnegie Mellon will host a panel of finance executives from banks in Qatar to discuss the impact of the debt crisis in Europe on banks in the GCC.

These talks not only bring high-level leaders in their respective fields to Qatar for the benefit of students and faculty, but for the enrichment of the broader community as well.

The Dean’s Lecture Series has featured such notable speakers as Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Secretary General of the General Secretariat for Development Planning and Economic Advisor to His Highness the Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani; Sheikh Hamad Bin Jabor Bin Jassim Al-Thani, president of the Qatar Statistics Authority; and Hassan Al-Thawadi, secretary general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee.

Background Information

Carnegie Mellon University Qatar

For more than a century, Carnegie Mellon University has challenged the curious and passionate to imagine and deliver work that matters. A private, top-ranked and global university, Carnegie Mellon sets its own course with programs that inspire creativity and collaboration.

In 2004, Carnegie Mellon and Qatar Foundation began a partnership to deliver select programs that will contribute to the long-term development of Qatar. Today, Carnegie Mellon Qatar offers undergraduate programs in biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science, and information systems. Nearly 400 students from 38 countries call Carnegie Mellon Qatar home.