An aerial view of the venue where the annual graduation ceremony took place at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) celebrated the academic achievements of 78 students receiving their degrees during the annual graduation ceremony, yesterday.
The Class of 2019 includes 10 graduates in biological sciences, 32 in business administration, one in computational biology, eight in computer science and 27 in information systems. The graduating class represents 16 nations, including 46 percent of Qatari nationals.
The ceremony, held at the CMU-Q campus in Education City, began with the formal declaration of the graduation of Class 2019.
Michael Trick, Dean of CMU-Q, highlighted that the campus has marked 15 years in Qatar. “We have changed a lot over the past 15 years, but one thing has stayed the same: our mission to provide a world class Carnegie Mellon education to students in Qatar,” he said.
Farnam Jahanian, President of Carnegie Mellon University, who had a light moment of talking selfie with the Class of 2019 to be posted on his Instagram account said, “Never has life been more complex or so full of potential — and more in need of CMU graduates like you. The story of this century will depend on the things that you do best: answering the questions that will be critical to our future and exploring exciting new modes of discovery.”
Outstanding students of the Class 2019, Aisha Abdulrahman Darwish Fakhroo, Omar Khattab, Hariss Saad Syed and Moussa Zekak were honoured during the ceremony with Qatar Campus Scholars award for demonstrating strong leadership and academic excellence.
Meritorious Teaching Award was given to Serkan Akguc, Assistant Teaching Professor in Finance.
The graduation ceremony featured a keynote address from Michael Zamagias, a member of Carnegie Mellon’s Board of Trustees and an entrepreneur and business leader based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Zamagias, who has built a successful network of businesses, a dedicated philanthropist, particularly in the areas of health care and education. “Education City is an investment that Qatar has made in each of you. You have been endowed with the knowledge and skills to make an impact on your community. It is my hope that your CMU experience will continue to be a source of inspiration to you,” he said.
The student speaker for the Class of 2019 was Amer Javed Ahmad, who graduated with a degree in information systems. Ahmad commented on the global responsibility that Carnegie Mellon has instilled in the graduates: “CMU has taken us to so many corners of the world and has provided us with opportunities that are truly, once in a lifetime. We learned that the responsibilities of an educated young individual extend far beyond our backyards.”
Amer has been an enthusiastic leader in the student community and he was recognized with a 2019 Senior Students Leadership Award.
The Class of 2019 brings the total number of CMU-Q alumni to nearly 850, and they join more than 110,000 Carnegie Mellon graduates worldwide.
