Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, has approved a Dh100m research budget for the American University of Sharjah.
Sheikh Dr Sultan, who is also president of the university, agreed on the operating budget for the next academic year when he chaired the meeting of the board of trustees on Sunday.
The board also adopted a new policy for money set aside for scholarships and research.
During the meeting, Sheikh Dr Sultan was briefed on a number of the university's achievements and praised the board for helping to accelerate its growth.
Members of the board expressed their thanks to Sheikha Naama bint Majid Al Qasimi and her family for their contribution to the university's scholarship fund.
The donations will lead to the establishment of the “Sheikha Naama bint Majid Al Qasimi Professorial Chair in Interdisciplinary Education” at the university.
Sheikh Dr Sultan, who earned a doctorate in history from the University of Exeter and another in the political geography of the Gulf from Durham University, is considered one of the world's foremost historians on the Gulf region. He has written numerous works on the region’s history.
The Sharjah Ruler established the American University of Sharjah in 1997. The institution offers a wide variety of degrees across fields such as the arts and sciences, business administration, architecture and design and engineering.
It serves more than 5,000 students from 86 countries. The best-represented country is the UAE, followed by Egypt and then India and Jordan, in third place.
Among its prominent former students is Sarah Al Amiri, a computer science graduate who led the UAE's space agency during historic missions and was recently appointed Minister of State for Public Education and Future Technology. Ms Al Amiri was formerly the Minister of State for Advanced Sciences.
Other graduates include Adib Fahim, who studied for a bachelor’s degree in international relations and went on to become Afghanistan’s deputy intelligence chief, and Lubna Al Qasimi, who attained an executive master of business administration degree at AUS.
Ms Al Qasimi was the first woman to become a minister in the UAE government and has held positions such as that of minister of state for tolerance.
