NYU Abu Dhabi has appointed its new vice chancellor after a 10-month international search, selecting an art historian who worked on the setting up of the campus and hiring its faculty a decade ago.
The university said Mariet Westermann will begin the role in Abu Dhabi from August 1.
"With her proven leadership qualities, her experience and involvement in the founding of NYUAD, her superb academic qualifications, her skill as an institution-builder, in Mariet Westermann we found just such a person," said NYU President Andrew Hamilton.
In addition to becoming vice chancellor, she will be appointed a professor of arts and humanities at the Saadiyat Island campus.
She is currently executive vice president of the Andrew W Mellon Foundation, the multibillion-dollar endowment fund that pays for university scholarships and funds the performing arts and museums.
Ms Westermann's principal area of scholarly interest is the art of the Netherlands, her native country and she is widely published in the field.
"In a brief nine years, NYU Abu Dhabi has become a unique, flourishing institution of higher education: in and of New York University, in and of Abu Dhabi, in and of the world, with a truly diverse and engaged student community, an outstanding and dedicated faculty, an innovative undergraduate curriculum, and an ambitious research agenda," Ms Westermann said.
"At a time when international engagement is vital to the future of our planet, NYU Abu Dhabi is a beacon situated in a dynamic city and a historic crossroads.”
