Martin Lipton, Chair of NYU’s Board of Trustees; John Sexton, President of NYU; and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, have announced that they have reached an agreement to create “NYU Abu Dhabi,” a Middle Eastern campus of NYU. This will be the first liberal arts campus established abroad by a major U.S. research university. It is projected that a first class of students will enroll in 2010.
Mariet Westermann, Ph.D., has been named a Vice Chancellor to lead the effort from NYU’s Washington Square Campus.
The development of “NYU Abu Dhabi” is a major step in the evolution of NYU as a “global network university” - a university with a teaching and research presence around the world through sites connected to the main campus in New York and to one another, drawing in scholars and students of talent from around the globe. NYU has one of the largest communities of international students and scholars in the U.S., and sends more students to study abroad than any other American university.
NYU Abu Dhabi will be a residential research university built with academic quality and practices consistent with the prevailing standards at NYU’s Washington Square campus, including adherence to its standards of academic freedom. The development of all the programs at the Abu Dhabi campus will be overseen by the New York-based faculty and senior administrators. The campus, created using programs and standards set by NYU, will include extensive classroom, library and information technology facilities, laboratories, academic buildings, dormitories, faculty and residential housing, student services, and athletic and performance facilities.
The Abu Dhabi Government has committed to provide land, funding, and financing for the development, construction, equipping, maintenance and operation of the NYU Abu Dhabi campus. It has also made a commitment to NYU that will enhance the University’s investment in faculty and programming, both of which are important in achieving world-class educational and research opportunities at NYU, NYU Abu Dhabi, and all of its network locations.
Dr. Sexton said, “This is an extraordinarily exciting and challenging opportunity. NYU was established 175 years ago as a university ‘in and of the city,’ and it will always remain firmly anchored in Washington Square, but as a foundation, not a limitation. In the 21st century, NYU must also be ‘in and of the world,’ a role for which our home, New York - that most international of cities - has well prepared us, and which we will fulfill through a network of our global sites for scholarship and education. It is in NYU’s institutional nature to be open to change and to see and grasp opportunities others would not. We have found just the right partners in Abu Dhabi. We found that we share important perspectives: a valuing of history, but a focus on the future; a belief that the evolving global dynamic will bring about the emergence of a set of world centers of intellectual, cultural, and educational strength; and a recognition that research universities will be key to these ‘idea capitals.’ This will be a great partnership, one we embrace with eagerness, but also with an understanding of the hard work to be done. We approach this moment with great intellectual excitement, but also with humility: NYU looks forward to coming to Abu Dhabi not just for the opportunity to educate young people and to embrace researchers and scholars in the region, but to be educated and changed in turn.”
Commenting on the agreement, Khaldoon Al Mubarak said, “NYU is renowned for having one of the most expansive and successful global programs in higher education. The partnership we have announced today will precipitate a legacy of opportunity for students and researchers from the around the world in years to come.”
Site selection and campus planning for NYU Abu Dhabi are under way. The new campus will draw students with top qualifications from around the world, particularly the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe. Ultimately, it is expected to have a student body upwards of 2,000. Students will be chosen based on their academic potential and qualifications as determined by NYU’s Office of Admissions, without regard to race, religion, sex, nationality, or sexual orientation. Financial aid support will be available, enabling a significant portion of students to attend without cost and ensuring that access to the NYUAD campus is not limited or denied to well-qualified students because of inadequate resources.
Classes will be conducted in English and will be co-educational. Academic offerings will include a range of undergraduate courses and majors comparable to that found at a typical U.S. university of its size. Appropriate graduate programs will also be offered. It is expected that a portion of the faculty will be NYU faculty on rotating assignment from Washington Square. Students enrolled in NYU Abu Dhabi will also be offered opportunities to spend a semester on the Washington Square campus and a semester in one of NYU’s other global sites.
