New York University and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi have agreed to create N.Y.U Abu Dhabi, a Middle Eastern campus of N.Y.U., the first comprehensive liberal arts campus established abroad by a major U.S. university.
The first class of students is projected to enroll in 2010. Marie Westerman, director of the N.Y.U. Institute of Fine Arts, has been named a vice chancellor to lead the new school from the Washington Square campus.
Drawing students from around the world, especially from the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia and Europe, N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi is expected eventually to have upwards of 2,000 students. They will be chosen by the N.Y.U. Office of Admissions based on their academic qualifications without regard to race, religion, sex, nationality or sexual orientation, according to the Oct. 12 announcement by Martin Lipton, chairperson of the N.Y.U. board of trustees; John Sexton, university president; and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The city of Abu Dhabi, capital of the emirate, by far the largest of the United Arab Emirates, is on an island 5 miles wide and 9 miles long in the Persian Gulf. It is also the capital of the U.A.E. and is reputed to be the richest city in the world.
Classes at N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi will be co-educational, conducted in English and the subjects will include courses, majors and graduate programs comparable to a typical U.S. university of its size. Part of the faculty is expected to be from the Washington Square campus on rotating assignments. Students at N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi will be able to spend a semester on the Washington Square campus and a semester at one of the university’s eight study-abroad sites in Europe, Asia and Africa.
The Abu Dhabi government has agreed to provide land, funding and financing for development, construction, equipping, maintenance and operation of the campus. The government has also made a commitment to enhance the university’s investment in faculty and programming.
