Last week, NYU CISO Rich Sparrow and I visited NYU Abu Dhabi. It’s still amazing to me that I can get on an airplane, fly halfway around the world in 14 hours, and my big concern is the line for the restroom! NYU Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi are fascinating places. I learned that Abu Dhabi means “father of the gazelle” in Arabic and that NYU AD is on Saadiyat Island—and that Saadiyat means happiness. What a great place name!
The UAE wants to be a commerce center for the world, so they are investing their wealth to make that transition. NYU AD is one of those investments. Abu Dhabi wants to be welcoming to all people. As was pointed out to me, you can see a Jewish Temple, a Christian Church, and a Mosque from the NYU AD campus. You constantly see the mix of people who comprise Abu Dhabi. Traditional dress, western dress, and combinations are commonplace. A man wearing a thoub or traditional white robe with a NY Yankees baseball cap was my favorite.
The IT team is representative of the population of Abu Dhabi. There are some Emiratis but much of the staff is from all around the globe, all working together to make NYU AD a great university and an important part of NYU. They would like a closer connection with the rest of us, and so we are investigating some ways we can overcome the distance and time difference to make that happen.
NYU AD is a joint effort between the Abu Dhabi government and NYU. There are only about 2,000 students, but the university has an importance beyond its size. Their research programs are an important part of Abu Dhabi’s strategy. More important, I think, is the exposure of students to the rest of the world. The students, like NYU students at all of our global locations, come from all over the world to live and learn together. Our study-away programs expose those students to different parts of the world, and students from the rest of NYU get the opportunity to study at NYU AD. The more we know each other and our cultures, the brighter the future of the world.
As part of better understanding the diversity of cultures that makes NYU what it is, and in honor of Black History Month, I’d like to recognize Ursula Burns (Tandon ‘80), one of the first Black women to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a position she fulfilled at Xerox from 2009-16. While there, she was also Chair from 2010-17.I’d also like to highlight an upcoming virtual event: “What’s at Stake”—The Work Ahead: Conversations on Civil Rights and Affirmative Action,” taking place on Thurs. Feb 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET that will focus on an upcoming series of US Supreme Court decisions that will have a significant impact on higher education (and other industries).