Published Mon, May 03, 2010 01:58 PM
Modified Mon, May 03, 2010 01:58 PM

Duke prof gets university presidency - in Abu Dhabi

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From staff reports

A Duke University engineer has won the presidency of a university in the Middle East.

Tod Laursen, a mechanical engineering professor, has been appointed president of the Khalifa University of Science, Research and Technology in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Laursen was chosen from more than 200 candidates, according to a Duke news release. He starts work in August.

KUSTAR is a young university with big ambitions. The board of trustees was determined to find a president who matched these qualities, wrote KUSTAR Interim President Arif Sultan Al Hammadi in a news announcement. In professor Laursen we have a leading engineer who is both academically renowned and passionate about science and technology. His interdisciplinary experience will prove invaluable in bringing together the various aspects of the student and faculty body, and uniting the different disciplines. We are confident that he will be an inspirational guiding force for our students and a motivated leader for our growing faculty and staff.

Laursen has served as senior associate dean for education with Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and is the current chair of the department of mechanical engineering and materials science. He has taught at Duke for 18 years.

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