AAU Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Its Establishment

AAU held a ceremony to mark its 30th anniversary on Friday, 27/9/2019 in the Arena Complex at the University. This event was attended by a number of Excellencies, deputies, presidents of universities, academics, businessmen and officials in the country in addition to artists, intellectuals and a crowd of journalists, media professionals and invitees. The ceremony was also attended by the Chairman and members of the AAU Board of Trustees, the Chairman and the members of the Board of Directors, the AAU President and members of the academic & administrative staffs. In his speech, Dr. Maher Al-Hourani, the Chairman of the AAU Board of Directors, welcomed the audience and said: “Thirty years ago, AAU was the idea and ambition of its founder the late Ahmad Al-Hourani. He set it out and spread its fragrance over the country and made its way to glory as the first private University in Jordan. This ceremony and any other ones are always held under the patronage of Dr. Ahmad Al-Hourani, who is physically absent but spiritually present among us.”Dr. Maher added: “After thirty years of its founding, AAU is proud of seven: its founder Dr. Ahmad Al-Hourani, its distinguished academic & administrative staffs and its graduates who are the basis of the University excellence and remarkable achievements. We are glad to see sons and daughters of our graduates and even their grandchildren studying at the University. AAU is also proud of its achievements in terms of programs and specializations, in its international classifications and the quality of its graduates. It is proud of you our attendance, because you are our partners in success and giving. The University is proud of the lofty Balqa and Al-Salt city for being the source of culture, thought and science as well as its good people. AAU is also proud of our beloved Jordan, its people and its Hashemite leadership, under His Majesty King Abdullah II.”At the end of his speech, Dr. Maher welcomed the audience again and thanked Mrs. Abeer Hourani for organizing this ceremony which showed the best image of AAU. In his speech, Prof. Sari Hamdan, the AAU President, welcomed all the participating guests in this gorgeous ceremony which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the AAU establishment. He congratulated Al-Hourani family members, who expressed their affiliation and loyalty to the late Dr. Ahmad Al-Hourani and the educational process. He pointed out that he is proud of the unprecedented developments in the University faculties and specializations which he witnessed during his career march in this institution as he was the Dean of AAU Student Affairs, then as a short time president of AAU and recently as the AAU president. Then he said: “We had a plan beginning from the last academic year to put the AAU on the map of international universities. The University was able to carry out this plan by signing many agreements with the top American and European universities such as Harvard and MIT as well as with a number of British universities and others. These academic agreements aimed to raise the University level and to obtain international rankings which AAU did not previously pursue.”Prof. Hamdan added: “Indeed, AAU realized many achievements at the international level, the latest of which was the University's QS Ranking. According to this Ranking, AAU obtained four stars and the AAU Faculty of Pharmacy gained five stars as well. The University achieved the 301 rank internationally in the Economic & Social Impact according to the “Times” World Ranking. In addition, the University obtained the full international accreditation from the global ASIC as well as it gained the American accreditation ABET for the Networks & Information Security Specialization.” Prof. Sari added that: “While the Commission of Accreditation for Higher Education Institutions in Jordan withheld the Quality Control Certificate from the AAU Faculty of Pharmacy, the Faculty achieved the full 5-star QS Ranking.” He stressed the unlimited support that the AAU Board of Trustees and the Chairman of the AAU Board of Directors provide to the University to achieve its progress since the main objective they seek is to develop this prestigious scientific institution. Dr. Anas Al-Saud, the AAU Assistant President for International Accreditation & Classification, delivered a speech during which he announced that the University received four stars according to the “QS” World Ranking and congratulated the University and its staffs for this achievement. After that, He explained the criteria of this ranking and said that the University obtained five stars in five criteria and four stars in two criteria according to the following:• Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences 5 stars• Teaching 5 stars• Facilities 5 stars• Recruitment/Employment 4 stars• Globalization 5 stars• Social responsibility 5 stars• Academic Development 4 stars• Inclusiveness 5 stars On the sidelines of the ceremony, a dinner party was held, where a number of AAU employees were honored and a video clip of the University's founder, late Dr. Ahmed Al-Hourani was displayed in addition to another video about the faculties and buildings of the University since its inception to this day. The ceremony which included many artistic sections continued with one performance by the Lebanese musician Haneen. The Jordanian Orchestra also took part in this event as well as the rising Egyptian singer May Mustafa who thrilled the audience by her songs and her beautiful voice.