Sharjah Government Media Office
Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and President of the University of Sharjah, approved the appointment of three new members to the University’s Board of Trustees to strengthen the Board role in drawing up policies, setting plans and following up on the University’s performance to achieve its vision and continue its progress.
The new board members include Prof. Dr. Osama Al Khatib, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Robotics Centre; Prof. Dr. Mohamed Hamdy Abdelshakur, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Malaysian University of Malaya; and Prof. Dr. Tan Eng Chi, President of the National University of Singapore.
Dr. Osama Al Khatib is a professor of computer science at Stanford University; he obtained a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, “Automatic Systems” from the Higher National School of Aeronautics and Space Sciences in Toulouse, France, in 1980. He is the director of the Stanford Robotics Centre and a member of the bio-x initiative at Stanford University. He also won many international scientific awards, including the Japan Robot Association (JARA) Award in research and development in 1996; IEEE RAS Pioneer Award in Robotics and Automation in 2010; and he was also awarded an honorary membership in the Arab Society for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Muhammad Hamdi Abd al Shakur is the Vice Chancellor of the Malaysian University of Malaya, he holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Kyoto University, Japan. He chairs the Vice-Chancellors Committee of Malaysian Public Universities and the Academic Accreditation Council for Engineering. Dr. Muhammad Hamdi Abd al Shakur is a member of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, and has published more than 220 scientific papers in scientific journals classified by the “Web of Science”. He is also ranked (39) in the “h-index”, where his research was referred to more than 6140 times, and in recognition of his distinguished achievements, he received a high rating at the national level in Malaysia.
Dr. Tan Eng Chi holds is the President of the National University of Singapore, and he received a Ph.D. in Mathematics, in 1989 from Yale University, United States. He worked as a visiting professor in many international universities in the United States of America, Japan and Hong Kong, and he has distinguished contributions to education and scientific research. Dr. Tan Eng Chi co-authored books in mathematics for which he won high-level awards such as the Golden Government Administration Award, and the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal in the field of scientific research, education, and public service. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Southampton in 2018 in recognition of his achievements in his innovative and exceptional teaching methods. In 2022, he was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honour by France, which is the French highest distinction award for military and civil achievements, which he received in recognition of his achievements in education and scientific research.
The Board of Trustees of the University of Sharjah includes a constellation of scholars, specialists and people with long experience in prestigious universities, research and scientific institutions and fields of specialization, among which, Afaf Ibrahim Al Marri, Head of the Social Services Department; Dr. Khawla Abdul Rahman Al Mulla, Head of the Family Affairs Authority; Dr. Mansour Muhammad bin Nassar, Head of the Legal Department of the Sharjah Government; Eng. Dr. Muhadithah Al Hashimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Private Education Authority; Dr. Obaid bin Ali Al Muhairi, former Executive Dean for Arabic and Emirati Studies at the Higher Colleges of Technology; Muhammad Abdullah, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank; Dr. Jack Vermont, President of the University of Ottawa, Canada; Dr. Alexander Kuleshov, President of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Russia; Dr. Kamal Yousef Al Toumi, Co-Director of the Centre for Pure Water and Clean Energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States of America; Dr. Paul O’Brien, Vice President of McMaster University in Canada; Dr. Martin Barstow, Assistant Vice President of the University of Leicester for Strategic Scientific Projects and Director of the Leicester Institute for Space and Earth Observation in the Unired Kingdom; and Prof. Dr. Hamid Majul Al Nuaimi, Director of the University of Sharjah and President of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences.