KAUST 7th Commencement: Dr. Ahmad Ali Al-Jabr, Dr. Hala H. Al-Hashim, Dr. Amanda Ooi, and Master Edgars Stegenburgs

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KAUST welcomed 181 graduates into its global alumni community at the University’s seventh Commencement ceremony on December 16, 2016.
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Attended by members of the University’s board of trustees, senior leadership, faculty, students and the KAUST community, the ceremony saw 87 Ph.D. graduates and 94 master’s degree graduates receive their diplomas and congratulations from KAUST President Jean-Lou Chameau and other distinguished guests, including His Excellency Ali Ibrahim Al-Naimi, chairman of the KAUST board of trustees, and Commencement speaker Andrew N. Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer of The Dow Chemical Company.

Liveris, a 40-year veteran of Dow, has served in diverse roles in marketing, manufacturing, engineering, sales and management in the company around the world, and helped orchestrate the creation of the Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture between Dow and Saudi Aramco. He has also been part of KAUST since its inception, partnering with the University to invest in local talent and develop solutions to regional and global challenges, for example through Dow’s expanding facilities at the KAUST Research & Technology Park.

Find your ‘North Star’

“I can tell you from experience—40 years of experience—that your path forward from here will not be direct,” Liveris told the graduates. “I am a great believer in seeking, as I have come to call it, your North Star, and really looking for a purpose that will motivate you, guide you and give your career and life a sense of direction.

“Perhaps some of you already have a North Star in sight, but for most of you, be confident that it may take some time to find. As you seek it—and once you find it—it will be your lifetime pursuit to navigate towards it. You won’t find it in a straight line, for there will be choppy waters, but if you have that purpose and you fulfill it, you will achieve your amazing potential.”

“KAUST was founded on the understanding that humans are at our best when we innovate together towards a better world for everyone, a vision of the honorable King Abdullah whose name KAUST bears,” he continued. “As you search for your North Star even in the dark of night, that philosophy is going to point you in the right way.

‘Develop resilience’

Class of 2016 student speaker Hessa Al-Quwaiee, a Ph.D. graduate in electrical engineering, echoed Liveris’ words in her remarks.

“If KAUST has taught us one thing, it is to develop resilience,” she said. “As students, we have been through challenges like paper rejections and failed experiments, and we’ve learned to be strong, keep going and to persevere.”

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