Dubai entrepreneur receives honorary degree

THH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group, on Tuesday was presented with an honorary degree from City University London's Cass Business School. HH Sheikh Ahmed received the honour at the graduation ceremony for the University's Cass Business School Dubai Centre, which was held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and President of DIFC. The award was made in recognition of Sheikh Ahmed's outstanding leadership in the development of professional sectors including aviation, finance, banking and entrepreneurship among others in the UAE. This year's ceremony, which was held at the DIFC Conference Centre, saw 45 students graduate from the Cass Dubai Executive MBA programme, a two-year course delivered in a monthly block weekend format to accommodate busy working professionals. Abdulla Mohammed Saleh, Governor of DIFC, said: "We congratulate the Executive EMBA programme students graduating from Cass Business School today. DIFC is proud to support human capital investment as a foundation for developing the regional financial services industry. We wish the new graduates the best of luck as together we continue to build a knowledge-based economy." Professor Paul Curran, Vice-Chancellor of City University London, who presented Sheikh Ahmed with the degree, said it "recognises the remarkable contribution H.H. Sheikh Ahmed has made to the development of both the region and the global economy. We are delighted that he has joined us as we congratulate our students on the completion of their EMBA course." The Cass Dubai Centre attracts students from all over the world and the 2013 graduates include representatives from the UAE, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, KSA, Iran, Nigeria, India, USA and Australia. The Dean of Cass Business School, Professor Steven Haberman, said: "As demonstrated earlier this month by the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's highly successful visit to the UK, the ties between our two countries continue to move from strength to strength. Since its inception in 2007, the Cass Dubai EMBA has striven to meet the needs of business executives in the Middle East and surrounding regions and I would like to congratulate our students on successfully completing the 24-month course." Ehsan Razavizadeh, Regional Director, MENA and Head of the Dubai Centre said: "We were honoured to welcome His Highness Sheikh Ahmed to preside over our 2013 graduation ceremony and to bestow on him an honorary degree from City University London. The Cass Dubai EMBA continues to attract talented, multilingual students from around the world as demonstrated by the 17 nationalities represented by this year's graduates. I look forward to monitoring their progress as they embark on the next stage of their business careers". Cass Dubai's EMBA was the first programme of its kind to offer specialist Islamic finance and energy modules and offers streams in general management and leadership, mainstream finance and entrepreneurship. In 2012, the Financial Times ranked Cass Business School fourth in the UK and tenth in Europe. The Cass EMBA offered in Dubai is a flexible part-time course aimed at managers in the Gulf region who wish to accelerate their career development while remaining in full-time employment. Its state-of-the-art campus was opened in the DIFC in 2007 and has been home to over 300 executives and professionals studying on the internationally acclaimed Cass EMBA programme.