H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned at the opening of Northwestern University yesterday. Maher Attar

Doha: Northwestern University-Qatar (NU-Q) marked its formal inauguration in the presence of H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, chairperson of Qatar Foundation (QF), as it joined five other leading American universities at QF’s Education City, here yesterday.

Dr Abdullah Al Thani, Vice-President, Education for Qatar Foundation; US ambassador to Qatar Joseph LeBaron; Henry S Bienen, President, Northwestern University; William A Osborn, Vice Chair and Chair Elect, Board of Trustees, Northwestern University; and John M Lavine, Dean, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University and a number of representatives from Northwestern University’s Evanston and Qatar campuses were present on the occasion.

Addressing the event, Dr Abdullah Al Thani said Qatar was committed to promoting a new standard of journalism across the Arab world more than a decade ago when it launched Al Jazeera.

He hoped that the graduates of the journalism programme at NU-Q will build upon the reputation Al Jazeera has won over these years for accurate, stimulating and courageous journalism. They will also help build a new media environment within Qatar, he said.

Henry S Bienen said that it was an honour for him to be part of the process of progressive social change in Qatar and added: “A campus here expands Northwestern’s global visibility and gives us a presence in a vital region of the world. It also allows a wealth of cross-fertilisation between campuses, broadening the horizons of faculty, staff and students. And such a campus offers the opportunity to make a difference not only in the lives of students, but also in the culture of a region.”

John Margolis, Dean of NU-Q said that during the inaugural year, students have been mentored by nine faculty members, who collectively bring well over a century of professional and academic experience to their work in Qatar.

The NU-Q is offering two undergraduate programmes: communication and journalism. The School of Communication offers a programme in telecommunications, radio, television, film and interactive media technology. The journalism programme, created by the Medill School of Journalism, is preparing students for careers in print and broadcast news media through education in both journalism and integrated marketing communications. Thirty-eight students from Qatar and the Gulf region are enrolled in these two programmes, both of which are also offered on Northwestern’s campus in Evanston, Illinois. During this year, the university has been working to establish strong ties with local organisations.

NU-Q partners with media organisations in Qatar to create educational and professional opportunities for its students. Other partnership initiatives include a US-based Middle East Partnership Initiative to improve high school journalism, collaboration with Reset DOC (Dialogues on Civilisations) to bring a forum to Doha in April about the portrayal of women by the media in the West and the Middle East.