New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has appointed Mariet Westermann as its vice chancellor effective August 1.

NYU president Andrew Hamilton made the announcement following a 10-month long, international search that considered many outstanding candidates from around the world.

Westermann is the executive vice president of The Andrew W Mellon Foundation, former provost of NYUAD, former director of NYU's Institute of Fine Arts, and art historian, said a statement from university.
 
Lauding the appointment, Hamilton said: “We are thrilled by the appointment of Westermann. The creation of our organisation was an innovative move, one that has helped make NYU pre-eminent in global education.”

“And thanks to our shared vision with our partners, we have been a tremendous success: with distinguished faculty, top students from around the world from all backgrounds, and excellent leadership, it has become a regional leader in research, and its graduates have gone on to prestigious international honours, top graduate and professional programs, and leading employers and positions,” he stated.
 
Hamilton said: “Therefore, in choosing a new vice chancellor, we sought someone who would not only be a leader capable of taking NYUAD into its next stage, but who would also contribute to NYU's leadership globally and be a real presence in the cultural and intellectual life of Abu Dhabi.”

“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 Westermann we found just such a person,” he added.
 
Speaking on her appointment, Westermann said: “It is a great honour and calling to serve as the university’s vice chancellor. In a brief nine years, NYUAD 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.”

“At a time when international engagement is vital to the future of our planet, we are a beacon situated in a dynamic city and a historic crossroads,” she said.
 
In addition to being named to the Vice Chancellorship, she will be appointed a Professor of Arts and Humanities at NYU Abu Dhabi.
 
Westermann has been at the Mellon Foundation since 2010, and has been the executive vice president for programs and research since 2016. In that role, she has launched initiatives that study and promote the value of the humanities and the liberal arts, strengthen community colleges, encourage graduate education reform, renew preservation of cultural heritage around the world, and support scholars and artists at risk.

Prior to the foundation, she was on the faculty at NYU, first as director of the Institute of Fine Arts and then as the first provost of NYUAD, where she hired the startup team and initial faculty, helped shape the curriculum and launch the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, and developed warm relationships with the Abu Dhabi community, among other important undertakings.

Before coming to NYU in 2002, she was associate director of the Clark Art Institute. From 1995 to 2001, she was an assistant and associate professor of art history at Rutgers.
 
She received her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Williams College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her Master’s and her PhD from NYU's Institute of Fine Arts.-TradeArabia News Service