A high level delegation from Northwestern University in Qatar’s home campus concluded a visit to Doha this week for a series of meetings that mark the appointment of a new dean and the next phase of the university’s operations.
Dr. Daniel Linzer, Northwestern’s provost and chief academic officer, led a delegation that included Chief Financial Officer Eugene Sunshine, two new vice presidents and other senior officials. “We arranged this visit to celebrate new leadership in Doha and to acquaint NU-Q with new and continuing leadership at our campus in the United States.”
The most prominent leadership change at NU-Q has been that of dean and chief executive officer. Everette E. Dennis, Ph.D. assumed the position this summer. NU-Q also appointed David Carr to the position of chief operations officer and chief information officer.
Linzer said the occasion recognizes a new chapter for NU-Q moving from the founding stage when the university was being established to a time of new development, unification of programs and activities as well as extensive outreach engaging the Qatari community and the Middle East more broadly. “We want to have a global impact and one that resonates with our home campus in Evanston,” where Northwestern has existed for more than 150 years. “Dean Dennis already has implemented numerous new programs to increase the visibility and outreach of the University.”
Dennis and his leadership team hosted the delegation during their three-day visit. The group met with officials of Qatar Foundation and with NU-Q administrators, faculty, staff and students. Linzer previewed the university’s new strategic plan, scheduled for official release in mid-October. “As Northwestern’s first overseas campus and as a center for media study, research and global outreach, NU-Q will play a strategic role in the University’s future.”
Dennis hailed the visit, which comes as “NU-Q launches new, exciting initiatives this semester to augment our journalism and communication programs for students, and to reach out and connect Northwestern’s expertise with the community and media industry throughout the region.”
The visit also comes at the beginning of the academic year in which NU-Q will graduate its first class, having been established in 2008.
Members of the delegation in addition to Linzer and Sunshine included new vice president Sean Reynolds (information technology) and Patricia Tells Irwin (student affairs), as well as associate vice presidents James Hurley (budget), Pam Beemer (human resources) and deputy general counsel Stephanie Graham.
The new dean who arrived in June is a well-known educator, institution builder and media expert who led media centers and other enterprises in New York City prior to appointment at NU-Q, including an endowed chair in media and entertainment industries at Fordham Graduate School of Business. Dean Everette E. Dennis also served as founding director of Columbia University Media Studies Center and founding president of the American Academy in Berlin, having served earlier as dean of the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication.
