Carnegie Mellon Qatar holds second graduation ceremony: Thirty-six students received Bachelor of Science degrees
Carnegie Mellon Qatar holds second graduation ceremony: Thirty-six students received Bachelor of Science degrees
DOHA, QATAR – More than 500 family members, friends, faculty, staff and members of the Doha community filled the grandiose walkway of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar to celebrate the tremendous achievement of 36 members of the graduating class of 2009. The thirty-six seniors – 28 in Business Administration, seven in Computer Science and one in Information Systems- received diplomas during the graduation ceremony on Monday, May 4 in Carnegie Mellon Qatar's new building in Education City.
The graduation celebrations commenced the evening before with the Senior Celebration – an evening of awards, accolades and remembrances. Awards were given out to students for their accomplishments as undergraduate students both for their academic achievement and work in student affairs. John Robertson, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs presented the academic awards including the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society award for Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Phi Kappa Phi honor society award for academic excellence and the Andrew Carnegie Scholar award among other recognitions for academic achievement. Gloria Khoury, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, presented the awards for student affairs leadership, alumni student awards and study abroad sashes.
In the Scottish tradition of Carnegie Mellon University, a bagpiper clad in full regalia led the formal procession of graduating students, Carnegie Mellon faculty, deans, the university provost, keynote speaker and university president along the remarkable three-story walkway. Students donned traditional black gowns and mortarboards bearing a red tassel and 2009 pendant. Faculty members wore traditional graduation robes from the college or university where they received their degrees.
The formal ceremony began with a declaration by faculty marshal Marion Oliver, who led the procession carrying the ceremonial Arabic sword. The Qatari National Anthem and the United States National Anthem were played by a local string quartet. Charles E. Thorpe, Ph.D., dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar welcomed the graduates and the guests.
"The Class of 2009 is our second graduating class, but they are not a class who are "second" at anything. They have a lot of "firsts" – first to occupy the new building, first to go to places like Ghana on a humanity mission and first to have a Phi Beta Kappa scholar," said Thorpe. "Graduation is a significant passage to a new phase in your life. Wherever your life leads you, we're proud of you, and proud to have you as part of the Carnegie Mellon family."
H E Sheikha Hanadi bint Nasser bin Khaled Al Thani, founder and chairperson of Amwal, CEO of Al Wa'ab City and Deputy CEO of Nasser Bin Khaled Al Thani & Sons Group, delivered the commencement speech recalling the motto of Carnegie Mellon University: 'My heart is in the work.' She encouraged the graduates to be passionate about what they do. "That's when work starts to enrich your life, and the lives of those around you," said Sheikha Hanadi. "It is the greatest gift you can give yourself, your family and your country."
Business Administrative seniors Maha Hamad Al-Hanzab and Omar Alaaeldin Alouba were selected to be the class speakers. They delivered a thoughtful speech on the paradox of graduation and expectation, opportunity and achievement. They cited the expectations of their parents as the base for developing their strong, solid foundation on which they will now set their own goals and expectations because expectations will lead to opportunities.
"Opportunity is something we make; it is not handed to us. The choices we make in life and how much we commit to them can make our opportunities a reality," said Al-Hanzab. "Each opportunity gives us a chance for achievement." On achieving goals and lessons learned along the way, Omar said "For every one of the failures, I succeeded at some part of the process along the way. Had I not reached beyond my grasp, strived to be the best, I would not have taken the risks that resulted in so rich an understanding."
Another highlight of the ceremony was a special Hooding Ceremony for Darlene Everhart, a Ph.D. candidate in Literal and Cultural Studies. The Hooding Ceremony is a special recognition for doctoral degree candidates signifying the success in completing the graduate program.
Jared L. Cohon, President of Carnegie Mellon University, delivered the presidential charge. "'Graduate', comes from the Latin gradus, meaning "step". Today, you are taking a step, a new step in your lives, moving forward to another level," said Cohon. "Carnegie Mellon is an entrepreneurial place, which not only allows you to shape your own future, it requires you to do that. And those are great skills for your next steps in life. All this talk about steps brings to mind the words of His Highness the Emir which are inscribed on this wonderful new building: 'What is needed is not simply to take one step forward, but to embark upon a comprehensive process that embraces modernity without tredpidation and welcomes progress without fear'."
The Class of 2009 graduates represented 14 nationalities including Algeria, Egypt, France, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, USA and Yemen as well as Qatar. Half of the graduating class had minors across a spectrum of disciplines from Business Administration and Computer Science to Psychology, Mathematics and History.
Members of the Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar Class of 2009
In Business Administration: Mohammed Omar Abu Zeinab, Anas Yehya Abu Qamar, Reem Abdulrahman Jassim Al Muftah, Sara Abdulla Al-Asmakh, Najwan Rashid Al-Borshid, Haya Abdullah Al-Dossary, Khaloud Faiz Al-Farsi, Maha Hamad Al-Hanzab, Mohammed Ahmed Al-Ibrahim, Noor Mohammed Al-Jassim, Maha Mubarak Al Khulaifi, Noor Nasser Al-Ali Al-Maadeed, Bodor Mhd. Faiz Al-Mahmalji, Asma Ali M. Al-Nasser, Fatima Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, Omar Alaaeldin Alouba, Yousef Fouzi AlSabeeh, Basheera Shaik Banu, Alya Abdulrahman Bawazir, Rana Yousr El Sakhawy, Dana Saeed Haidan, Basit Hasan Iqbal, Maha Mahmoud Talaat, Noora Mohammedameen Mohammed, Hicham Nedjari, Ramsey Marwan Ramadan, Bayan Yousef Taha and Karim Salem Watfa.
In Computer Science: Lina Tarek N. R. Agha, Hatem Said Alismail, Wadha Rashid Al-Adgham, Fatima Sultan Al-Binali, Mariam Mohd Al-Sayed, Qabas Adnan Al-Ward and Hend Kamal Gedawy.
In Information Systems: Hans Rudolph Schweitzer
About the Class of 2009:
– Business Administration majors: 28. Females 19, Males 9.
– Computer Science majors: 7. Females 6, Males 1.
– Information Systems major: 1 Male.
– Graduates with minor degrees: 18.
– Phi Beta Kappa award: Hend Kamal Gedawy, Computer Science
– Phi Kappa Phi award: Mohammed Abu Zeinab, Qabas Adnan Al-Ward, Hicham Nedjari
– Andrew Carnegie Society award: Hatem Said Alismail, Computer Science
– Qatar Campus Scholars: Mohammed Abu Zeinab, Hicham Nedjari, Hatem Said Alismail
– Non-Qataris: 18. Business Administration 14, Computer Science 3, Information Systems 1.
– Nationalities represented: 14, including Algeria, Egypt, France, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, USA, Yemen and Qatar.
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ABOUT CARNEGIE MELLON
With more than a century of academic excellence and innovative research, Carnegie Mellon University is a global leader in education with real-world applications. Consistently top ranked, Carnegie Mellon offers a distinct mix of programs to over 10,000 students around the globe. Core values of innovation, creativity, problem solving and collaborative teamwork provide the foundation for everything we do.
At the invitation of Qatar Foundation, Carnegie Mellon joined Education City in 2004. Here, Qatar Foundation has created a world-class center for scholarship and research that is the ideal complement to Carnegie Mellon's tradition of innovation through collaboration. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar offers its highly regarded undergraduate programs in business administration, computer science and information systems to students in Qatar and the Gulf Region.
related links: qatar.cmu.edu/graduation