• To date, NYUAD has grown to a student population of some 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students.
  • Times Higher Education ranks NYU among the top 30 universities in the world, making NYU Abu Dhabi the highest-ranked university in the UAE and MENA region.
  • Keynote speaker Nobel Peace Prize winner Ouided Bouchamaoui addressed the audience.

Abu Dhabi, UAE: NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) hosted its 11th Commencement ceremony to honor the Class of 2024, the largest to date. Some 475 students representing over 80 countries who collectively speak 75 languages participated in the largest graduating class that NYUAD has held since its inception in 2011.

In attendance were His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Advisor of Special Affairs at the Presidential Court; Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan; Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed bin Hamad Al Nahyan; His Excellency Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Chairman of the Department of Community Development – Abu Dhabi; Rima Al Mokarrab, NYU Trustee; and NYU President Linda Mills.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and NYUAD Professor of Practice of Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution Ouided Bouchamaoui delivered the keynote speech.

"It is an honor to address new graduates full of hope, empowered by knowledge, and driven by ambition. Young people who are thinking of how to make this world a better place. As you step out of NYU Abu Dhabi, you should observe four pillars for success: discipline and autoregulation,  sticking to the big picture, maintaining a high level of commitment, and respecting ethics," said Bouchamaoui. 

“NYU Abu Dhabi was designed to foster creativity, commitment, and care by deploying the great diversity that is a given of the human condition. The ethos of the UAE, a peaceable home to people from 200 countries, propels our learning community," NYUAD Vice Chancellor Mariët Westermann commented. "Please make the most of that knowledge as you go forth from this magnificent home of wisdom. Class of 2024, the world awaits your brilliance, your innovation, and your heart. Make it better," she added.

Class of 2024 Emirati student Humaid Abdulla Aljailani, who double majored in Philosophy, and Social Research and Public Policy, offered welcome remarks.

Class of 2024 student Stefan Mitikj spoke on behalf of the graduating class. Originally from the Republic of North Macedonia, Mitikj majored in Political Science as well as Social Research and Public Policy. He said: “As we go our separate ways and embark on our individual journeys, I encourage you to remember what this liberal arts institution taught us - the importance of the collective, and the combined power of togetherness. Graduating becomes an opportunity - an opportunity for all of us to create a society guided by kindness, supported by courage, strengthened by resilience, and bound by everlasting care for one another. This is the mission of our generation."

From its inception, NYUAD has been one of the most selective higher education institutions in the world. Times Higher Education ranks NYU among the top 30 universities in the world, making NYU Abu Dhabi the highest-ranked university in the UAE and MENA region. Admitted from high schools around the world, NYUAD’s current student body consists of some 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds. To date, NYUAD has produced 22 Rhodes Scholars, 20 Schwarzman Scholars, and 16 Fulbright Scholars.

Approximately four percent of those who applied to be a part of the Class of 2024 were accepted for admission, and the standardized test profile of the Class of 2024 matched those of the most elite higher education institutions in the US.

During their four years, the Class of 2024 has excelled in both academic and extracurricular pursuits. It has participated in student clubs, athletic groups, and built ties with the Abu Dhabi community. Eighty eight percent of the graduating class held at least one internship during their academic career in some of the world’s most respected organizations such as the United Nations Development Program, Mubadala, Microsoft, United States Congress, Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and Google. Some have received graduate school offers from a range of institutions including University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Trinity College Dublin, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and University of Michigan, among others.

Students have also secured offers of employment from key local and global organizations including PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Goldman Sachs, Emirates NBD, Deloitte, and Brevan Howard.

NYUAD opened in 2011 with an ambitious vision to be one of the world’s great research universities addressing complex challenges of local and global significance. Since then, the University has been ranked number one in the UAE for producing publications in top science journals based on Nature index, filed more than 185 research patents, created and directed more than 630 creative works, and published over 7,700 research publications, among other achievements.

-Ends-

About NYU Abu Dhabi   www.nyuad.nyu.edu

NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. Times Higher Education ranks NYU among the top 30 universities in the world, making NYU Abu Dhabi the highest-ranked university in the UAE and MENA region. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 120 countries and speak over 100 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.