(L) HBKU President Dr. Ahmad M. Hasnah, Keynote Speaker at the graduation, Roya Mahboob.
Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation, celebrated the graduation of its Class of 2020 and 2021 yesterday, and the event witnessed the 1,000th graduate mark in the 10th year since the institution’s founding.
The virtual ceremony formally awarded degrees to more than 400 students, including 130 Qataris. Around 60% of all graduates are women.
The graduating classes represent 33 academic degree programmes, with 110 graduates from the College of Islamic Studies (CIS); 74 from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), 154 from the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), 49 from the College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), 24 from the College of Law, and ten from the College of Public Policy (CPP).
The pre-recorded ceremony was broadcast for families and friends of the students in different parts of the world, and the broader university community.
In his message, Dr. Ahmad M. Hasnah, President of HBKU, congratulated the graduates and said, “Transforming and developing the world begins with individuals like you. HBKU and its community, including its faculty, have made an effort to support your passion for learning and innovation. Your attainment of the knowledge and personal skills will enable you to be active citizens supporting the path of development and growth of your communities and nations. We know you will turn your ideas and knowledge into a reality for us all to be proud of.”
Dr. Richard O’Kennedy, Vice President for Research at HBKU, and the Vice President for Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) at QF, addressing the graduates, said, “Our 2020-21 graduates leave HBKU with a research-based education that will open doors for them wherever they go. The world is facing significant transformation, and HBKU has prepared these graduates to generate novel approaches that can be applied to solve national and global issues. HBKU’s achievements over the past ten years have aimed to advance Qatar’s vision of being a knowledge-based economy that is highly competitive in the international arena. Our commitment is to prepare leaders who can address problems of global importance, and we will continue this work, creating an educational environment that can advance discovery and innovation, especially in light of urgent new challenges.”
Dr. Michael J. Benedik, HBKU Provost, Dr. Maryam Al-Mannai, Vice President for Student Affairs at HBKU, also addressed the graduates in video messages.
The keynote speech was delivered by Roya Mahboob, co-founder and CEO of the Digital Citizen Fund, named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2013 for her work building internet classrooms in high schools in Afghanistan.
In her speech, the student speaker, Ghoroor Abdulwaheed, graduating from CHSS’ MA in Women, Society, and Development, congratulated her peers and thanked the faculty for inspiring their imagination throughout an exciting academic journey.
The virtual ceremony witnessed 11’ first cohorts’ graduating from different programmes. Among those were first graduates in CHLS’ Ph.D. in Genomics and Precision Medicine, and from CSE’s Master of Science in Sport and Entertainment Management, Master of Data Analytics in Health Management, Master of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and Master of Information Systems in Health Management, as well as CHLS’ Master of Science in Exercise Science.
CPP welcomed the first graduates from its Master of Public Policy, the College of Law its first LLM in International Law and Foreign Affairs cohort, while CIS honoured its first graduates in the Master of Arts in Applied Islamic Ethics, Master of Arts in Islam, and Global Affairs, and Master of Science in Islamic Art, Architecture and Urbanism.
Over the decade, HBKU’s alumni community has now grown to nearly 1,250.
