Under the Patronage and in the presence of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, the American University in Dubai held its Eleventh Commencement Exercises on Monday May 19, in the Sheikh Rashid Hall of the Dubai International World Trade Center. This year, AUD had the honor of welcoming U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings as keynote speaker.

 

Electrical Engineering graduating senior, Ali Jamaleddine delivered the valedictorian speech on behalf of the Class of 2008. "On behalf of the Class of 2008, I promise you excellence. I promise you achievements. I promise you success," he said at the climax of his upbeat and exciting speech. He stressed the importance of professional responsibility and the value of lifelong learning. At the height of his speech, he acknowledged the contributions and sacrifices of his parents, who were sitting with the audience.

 

Jamaleddine completed his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with a perfect 4.0 GPA, a first in the history of the School of Engineering. "He is a different kind of person, both at the academic and the personal level," said one of his former professors after the ceremony. Throughout his studies, Jamaleddine was involved in extra curricular activities, and was most recently president of the Engineering Student Association at AUD and an active member of the IEEE Student Chapter. He will be joining the Ph.D. program at the University of California at San Diego, through a highly coveted departmental fellowship awarded to him by UCSD. In addition to being AUD's 2008 Valedictorian, Jamaleddine was also named "Outstanding Engineering Graduate," and was the recipient of the 2008 President's Award for Student Excellence.

 

In its short time span, the School of Engineering at AUD, founded in 2003, has also produced AUD's 2006 Valedictorian, Mahmoud El-Burai, who is currently completing a Master's in Real Estate Management at the National University of Singapore.