A renowned scholar and a leading museum professional have joined the leadership of Northwestern University in Qatar, the university announced. Pamela Erskine-Loftus and Klaus Schoenbach will direct the NU-Q gallery and museum, and research program, respectively.
A museum professional with more than 15 years of experience in the Gulf and US, Erskine-Loftus will apply her experience establishing new museums to NU-Q’s long-planned exhibition space, which will showcase the past, present and future of media and communications with global and Middle Eastern emphasis.
A world-renowned scholar and leader in communication, media studies and journalism, Schoenbach will head NU-Q’s burgeoning research program. Noted for his leadership at the University of Vienna where he was the chairman of the world’s second largest Department of Communication, Schoenbach was previously chair of General Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, BBDO Chair of Media Studies and vice president of Zeppelin University at Friedrichshafen, Germany and professor of Applied Communication Research at the University of Munich, among other appointments. He also spent more than a year as a visiting professor at US universities, such as Indiana University and University of Texas Austin.
Of the new media gallery director, NU-Q’s dean and CEO Everette E. Dennis said: “We are fortunate to have attracted a professional of Dr. Erskine-Loftus’s standing and skills for what will be a groundbreaking exhibition experience in the new NU-Q Media Gallery.”
Erskine-Loftus received a certificate in arts administration from New York University, a master’s in museum studies from the University of Leicester and a PhD in Arabian Peninsula Museology from Newcastle University. Active in scholarly and professional museum associations, she has published a number of papers and has presented at major conferences.
Schoenbach received his PhD in mass communication from the University of Mainz, Germany. His Habilitation in journalism and mass communication — an academic qualification beyond a PhD — is from the University of Muenster, Germany.
“Dr. Schoenbach’s research and teaching interests bridge across NU-Q programs, covering production, audience effect, political and persuasive communication, journalism and methods of communication research,” said Dennis. “His wide publication record and experience in higher education as a professor at five European universities will doubtless also lend to his ability to take our research program to the next level.”
