American University in Dubai

The American University in Dubai is situated next to Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City, and the Palm Islands.

AUD's multi-complex facility is situated on grounds of approximately 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m²). and encompasses three academic buildings, a Student Center, an administration building, residence halls, a cafeteria area, and an open air sports facilities.[5]

The University is organized into Schools:

• School of Architecture, Art and Design
  • Department of Architecture
  • Department of Interior Design
  • Department of Visual Communication
• School of Arts and Sciences
  • Department of International Studies
  • Department of Psychology
  • Middle Eastern Studies
• School of Business Administration
  • Department of Business and Economics
  • Department of Finance and Accounting
  • Department of Management
  • Department of Marketing and Marketing Communications
• Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication
• School of Education
• School of Engineering
  • Department of Civil Engineering
  • Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering
  • Department of Mechanical Engineering

Serving the Community at large as a source of expertise from within the AUD faculty members, AUD’s different centers offer services ranging from training and consultancy to research projects within their respective sectors.[6]

Following the Gulf War in 1991, a team led by Elias Bou Saab from the American Intercontinental University (AIU) visited the Persian Gulf to establish relationships with various ministries of higher education as well as the region’s schools.

The lack of quality private education at the university level, coupled with an appreciation of the American model of higher education, led them to conduct a feasibility study on the prospects of establishing an American university in the Persian Gulf. The results confirmed the high level of interest and desire for a campus offering an American-accredited educational curriculum.

It also became quickly apparent that the Emirate of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, would be an ideal place to locate such an institution. Dubai was found to be a politically stable, cosmopolitan and outward-looking principality whose nearly non-existent private sector in higher education was just beginning to draw some attention.

Elias Bou Saab moved to Dubai in 1995 in order to officially establish the American University in Dubai, which in turn would not have been possible without the commitment and support from the outset of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai. To this day, His Highness continues his unlimited support for higher education in general and to the university in particular.

The American University in Dubai opened its doors in October 1995 as a branch campus of the American Intercontinental University, a multinational educational institution currently based in Atlanta, Georgia.

AUD’s initial enrollment was 165 students, over half of which were females. By the time former Secretary of State and Treasury James Baker gave the Keynote at AUD’s first commencement in 1998,[11] enrollment had climbed to 499; and the Dubai government, as an expression of confidence, had decided to build a campus of 1,400,000 square feet for use by the university. AUD moved out of its initial premises to occupy this new, spacious, fully equipped campus in January 2000. Its enrollment at that time was 687.

The year 2000 was also significant because it was in that year that the university was officially licensed by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHE). The private sector for higher education had grown considerably since AUD’s founding, and the Ministry saw fit to establish a formal licensure and (subsequently) accreditation process. It was in 2000 that AUD's largest academic department – Business Administration – was organizationally designated as a School. In 2001, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the American University in Dubai (AUD) and the Georgia Institute of Technology of Atlanta, GA to establish a School of Engineering. Representatives from Georgia Tech, including six senior faculty and administrative officers, visited AUD to finalize the adaptation of curricula to the requirements of the UAE.[12]

In December 2007, and for the third time since its opening in 1995, The American University in Dubai achieved independent accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), one of America's seven regional accrediting commissions.

The American University in Dubai also maintains an exchange program with the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. Students from both institutions can take courses and receive credit through the exchange program.[13][14]

• Americans in the United Arab Emirates
• University of Wollongong in Dubai
• American University in Cairo (AUC)
• American University of Beirut (AUB)
• American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS)
• American University of Kuwait (AUK)
• American University of Sharjah (AUS)

• Official website