His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah and President of American University of Sharjah (AUS), chaired the meeting of the university's board of trustees held in London, the United Kingdom, yesterday, November 20, and expressed satisfaction at the progress made by AUS over the past quarter. During the meeting, the Sharjah Ruler thanked the board members for their commitment and dedication toward the development of the university and approved a number of important initiatives.

Following the meeting, Dr. Peter Heath, Chancellor of AUS, announced that the board had approved the naming of the School of Business and Management (SBM) Center for Executive Education as the Jafar Center for Executive Education. The board had approved this resolution with profound appreciation of the generous and unstinting support that Hamid D. Jafar had provided to the university since its inception. "Trustee Jafar has continuously and in highly important ways demonstrated, as a board member as well as in private capacity, active and outstanding support to AUS and its academic activities since the very beginning," said Dr. Heath. "His generosity towards our students, academic programs and facilities has been incalculable and it gives us great pleasure to rename the SBM Center for Executive Education in his honor," he added.

Dr. Heath said that the board also extended its appreciation and deep gratitude to Shabana Faizal and Faizal Kottikollon for their generous contribution to the AUS Scholarship Fund, and in establishing the Shabana and Faizal Scholarship which will provide opportunities for talented students with financial needs to avail themselves of an AUS education.

The board also reviewed the commencement of the next stage in the establishment of AUS School as well as certain proposed capital projects on campus. Dr. Heath said that the board had also approved the proposed tuition and dormitory fee for the academic year 2012-2013.  It also received updates and reports on various other important university matters.

Members of the AUS Board of Trustees are: His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah, and Chairman of the Board and President of AUS; Dr. Ali Abdullah Al Shamlan, Director-General of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, Kuwait; Dr. MaryAnn Baenninger, President, College of Saint Benedict, Minnesota, USA; Mr. Joseph L. Brand, Senior Partner, Patton Boggs LLP, Washington, DC, USA; Professor Lord Alec Broers, Member of the British House of Lords, UK; Dr. Anthony George Coates, Director of the Museum of Biodiversity, the Bridge of Life, Republic of Panama, and Senior Scientist Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution; Mr. Charles Cotton, Director of Cambridge Enterprise, University of Cambridge; Mr. Abdul Jalil Yousuf Darwish, Chairman of UAE Enterprises Group; Dr. Leroy S. Fletcher, Regents Professor Emeritus and Thomas A. Dietz Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University, USA; Dr. Roderick S. French, Chancellor Emeritus, AUS; Dr. Peter Heath, AUS Chancellor; Mr. Hamid D. Jafar, Chairman and CEO, Crescent Petroleum Company, Sharjah; Dr. Cornelius Kerwin, President, American University, Washington, DC, USA; Baroness Onora O'Neill of Bengarve, CBE PBA FMedSci, Member of the British House of Lords, UK; Mr. Riad T. Sadek, Chairman of Al Habtoor Leighton Group, Dubai; and Mr. Maroun A. Semaan, President and CEO, Petrofac International Ltd., Sharjah.

The meeting was also attended by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulah Al Thani, director of the Office of the AUS President and other senior AUS officials.