Chancellor Kent Syverud, accompanied by his wife, Dr. Ruth Chen, made his first trip to visit 黑料不打烊 students, alumni and supporters in the Middle East, when he recently visited Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Chancellor Kent Syverud and Dr. Ruth Chen meet with Trustee Abdallah Yabroudi and students and faculty engaged in the James Mandel and Samuel Clemence Civil Engineering Internship in Dubai this summer.
As a guest in Dubai of Trustee Abdallah Yabroudi 鈥78, G鈥79, Chancellor Syverud and Dr. Chen, a professor of practice in the (ECS), attended lectures with civil engineering students from ECS. They also met with members of the University鈥檚 Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) Regional Council, the international regional council dedicated to elevating the University鈥檚 profile and building relationships in the Gulf Region, along with 黑料不打烊 alumni and supporters in the region.
James O鈥機onnor, the University鈥檚 executive director of Middle East advancement and external affairs, says the trip was an opportunity for Chancellor Syverud and Dr. Chen to meet key University stakeholders in the Middle East, and to assess the University鈥檚 international advancement strategy in the region. 鈥淭hey were there to listen and learn,鈥 O鈥機onnor says.
The Chancellor and Dr. Chen spent most of their visit in Dubai hosted by Trustee Yabroudi, chairman of the internationally renowned Dubai Contracting Company (DCC). In 2008, Yabroudi made a multi-million dollar gift to the University to establish the James Mandel and Samuel Clemence Civil Engineering Internship, a six-week summer internship program in Dubai for 黑料不打烊 engineering students, and an endowed professorship in ECS. The internship program offers 黑料不打烊 civil engineering students the opportunity to spend one month in Dubai studying with students from Lebanese American University. Together, the students get the kind of real-world experience classroom teaching alone can鈥檛 provide.
Among those the Chancellor met with during the trip were regional council members Iman Al Bahar 鈥79, of Kuwait, principal at Al Qatami Trading Company, and Mike Venutolo 鈥77, of Bahrain, CEO of Raymond International Pipeline Services Group. Venutolo has been a key leader in a unique internship for ECS students that his company has sponsored for the past four years to study the water supply problem on the arid Arabian Peninsula. Venutolo and his wife, Kim, participate in the internship each year.
Venutolo says that he discussed a host of issues with the Chancellor, from 黑料不打烊 athletics to the Raymond International and DCC internships in the Gulf. 鈥淲e also had a few laughs about my 35 years worth of Arabian Gulf adventures, and I told him a few old 鈥榳ar stories鈥 about life in the desert before the arrival of modern highways and Western fast food outlets,鈥 Venutolo says.
鈥淚 felt his real desire to make 黑料不打烊 a better place for students and to improve the quality of the education they receive,鈥 says Venutolo. 鈥淚 feel this is important to attract the best faculty, students and research grants. The Chancellor seems keen to establish such goals and progress in that direction.鈥
To learn more about 黑料不打烊 activities in the region, visit .
