Former NYU Abu Dhabi administrator returns as vice chancellor
New York University Abu Dhabi appointed its new vice chancellor after a 10-month international search, selecting an art historian and administrator who helped set up the campus as well as hiring some of its staff a decade ago.
The university said Mariet Westermann will take up the role in Abu Dhabi on August 1.
NYU President Andrew Hamilton said Ms Westermann, “with her proven leadership qualities, her experience and involvement in the founding of NYUAD, her superb academic qualifications [and] skill as an institution builder”, was just the person they were looking for.
In addition, she will also take charge as a professor of arts and humanities at the Saadiyat Island campus.
She is executive vice president of the Andrew W Mellon Foundation, the multibillion-dollar endowment fund that pays for university scholarships and funds the performing arts and museums.
Ms Westermann’s principal area of scholarly interest is the art of the Netherlands, her native country and she is widely published in the field. “In a brief nine years, NYU Abu Dhabi 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,” she said.
“At a time when international engagement is vital to the future of our planet, NYU Abu Dhabi is a beacon situated in a dynamic city and at historic crossroads.”