AUK Graduates First Class

The American University of Kuwait (AUK) graduated its first students at Commencement Exercises on June 20, 2006. Parents, faculty, and staff attended the Graduation Ceremony at which eight students received their degrees.

Marina Tolmacheva, President of the American University of Kuwait told the graduates that they should take great pride in their accomplishments. Commencement is a graduation ceremony that celebrates the completion of your undergraduate studies, she said. It also marks a beginning as you commence your professional lives outside the university. Our motto is: Learn Think Become. As you leave AUK, the process of learning and becoming does not stop.

Dr. Sheila Culbert, Senior Assistant to James Wright, President of Dartmouth College, delivered the keynote speech to the graduating class. Dartmouth and AUK have signed a memorandum of understanding through which the two institutions collaborate on a variety of programs.

Culbert described the early history of Dartmouth, over two centuries ago in what was then the British colony of New Hampshire. She was then joined by Dr. Dale Eickelman, the Ralph and Richard Lazarus Professor of Anthropology and Human Relations at Dartmouth, to present a proclamation by President James Wright to AUK.

The proclamation established June 20 as a day of celebration on both campuses, President Wright wrote, on opposite sides of the world but joined in a common enterprise. The people of Dartmouth College, with whom you share a dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, salute you, he went on to say. We are privileged to share this historic moment with you, and are confident that the American University of Kuwait will endure and flourish for generations to come.

Following the conferral of degrees, President Tolmacheva congratulated those students who had achieved the highest honors in their department. These honors went to:

Alawi Taqi also achieved the highest academic standing among the AUK student body, delivered the Class of 2006 Valedictorian speech. I owe many debts to those who have taught me, he said. I particularly like the way AUK faculty describe themselves not as teachers, but as shared learners, and the staff as friends and supporters.

The Graduates of the American University of Kuwait's Class of 2006 are:

Sara Al-Ateeqi; Business Administration - Finance (Magna Cum Laude)
Alawi Taqi; Business Administration - Management (Magna Cum Laude)
Shurook Sultan; Business Administration - Marketing
Manal Ahmed; Business Administration - Marketing
Somaya Al-Masri; Business Administration - Marketing
Saud Ahmed; Business Administration - Management
Meshal Al-Ali; Business Administration - Marketing
Taiba Al-Humaidhi; Business Administration - Management