Northwestern University in Qatar has announced the appointment of Venus Jin as associate dean for education and Nisar Keshvani as assistant dean for communication and public affairs. The new senior leaders will begin their positions in the first quarter of spring 2024.
“It is with great enthusiasm that I welcome Venus and Nisar, whose coming on board adds critical expertise and energy to Northwestern Qatar’s senior leadership team,” said Marwan M. Kraidy, dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar. “I look forward to working with them to continue elevating Northwestern Qatar as a community of excellence.”
Jin and Keshvani will also join the Dean’s Senior Leadership Council, along with the associate dean for administration, the associate dean for faculty affairs, the assistant dean for the student experience, the assistant dean for academic affairs, and the senior manager of dean’s operations, to provide guidance to the Dean on strategic and administrative matters.
Jin has been a member of the Northwestern Qatar faculty since 2019, when she joined as a professor in residence, teaching courses on media innovation, research methods, and digital media environment before being appointed director of the Communication Program in 2021. In her new role as associate dean for education, she will oversee curricular and instructional matters, develop and manage educational strategies, and set out academic vision while ensuring the school continues to deliver on its mission for academic excellence.
A social scientist and interdisciplinary researcher, Jin’s scholarship focuses on emerging technologies, branding, social media marketing, and consumer behavior. She has published numerous articles in leading peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Communication, the New Media & Society, the Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, among others.
Similarly, Keshvani joins from the National University of Singapore, where he was founding senior associate director of strategic communication at the Faculty of Arts and Science. At Northwestern Qatar, he will work on shaping and advancing the school’s profile as a leading and distinctive U.S. institution in the Arab World, spearheading communications on strategic initiatives, designing and implementing internal and external communications, and aligning them with Northwestern Qatar’s mission and values.
A journalist by training and senior communications specialist with more than 25 years of experience, Keshvani’s expertise spans public relations, corporate affairs, public policy, media relations, and advocacy communications for international academic and higher education institutions across five continents. His previous experience includes architecting communication divisions in international universities and conceptualizing creative media projects.
With Jin overseeing curricular and instructional matters as the associate dean for education and Keshvani strategically leading communication and public affairs efforts as the assistant dean for communication and public affairs, Northwestern Qatar will continue to distinguish itself as a preeminent international higher education institution in the Arab World and the Global South.
