Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed appoints chancellor for new humanities university

Dr Khalid Al Dhaheri to be first chancellor of Mohamed bin Zayed University for Humanities

United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain has a strong standing in research and offers one of the country's main medicine degrees. Randi Sokoloff / The National

Khalifa University has rapidly climbed the global rankings in recent years but was knocked off the UAE top spot this year by UAEU. It boasts a nuclear engineering school staffed by top nuclear scientists, many of them from South Korea. Chris Whiteoak / The National

With its its striking architecture, American University of Sharjah offers about two dozen major degrees including humanities, engineering and business to about 5,000 students. It often scores strongly in global rankings and is particularly popular with Arab expat students. Alamy Photo

University of Sharjah was established in 1997 and is one of the country's largest, with about 14,000 students enroled. It also has campuses in the town of Dhaid and in Kalba, in Sharjah's east coast enclave. Wikicommons

Dr Khalid Al Dhaheri has been appointed as the first chancellor of the Mohamed bin Zayed University for Humanities .

The appointment on Sunday came after a resolution was issued by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

The university was established by order of President Sheikh Khalifa last month.

It will offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in social studies, humanities and philosophy.

It will also have cultural and academic ties and student exchange programmes with local and international institutes, state news agency Wam reported.

Last month, Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah was named president of the Higher Academic Council for the university.

The university's board will be chaired by Dr Hamdan Al Mazrouei. Other board members include vice chair Sara Musallam, chairwoman of Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, and Maryam AlMheiri, vice chairwoman of twofour54.

"The university aims to be a prime and trusted source of academic and religious knowledge and humanities. Based on the most sophisticated education models in the world, it will be a centre for creativity, innovation and excellence," Dr Al Mazrouei said