A word from the President

A word from the President

In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful

With pride, I am pleased to welcome you to the German Jordanian University on its 10th anniversary.

It is a great honor for me to be the leader of the university whilst celebrating this occasion.

Your Excellency the Prime Minister, thank you very much for being the sponsor of this ceremony. It is an honor for us. Thank you all for joining us today.

A special thank goes to our German friends; Among them officials, heads of institutions, presidents of universities and colleagues who were keen to travel to Jordan to share with us this occasion, it is a clear indication of a true friendship that I cherish. I would like also to extend my sincere congratulations to Dr. Wintermantel and all the members of DAAD, this prestigious  organization that celebrates its 90th anniversary in this year.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen…

Our university is relatively new in comparison to the other Jordanian Universities, but thank God it was able during this short period of time to offer a new model, and to create a success story in the Higher Education in Jordan, and perhaps in the region.

Because it has established distinguished strategic partnerships with the public and private German educational and industrial institutions, and throughout offering a unique German model of applied education, which made the University a success story of the German Jordanian relations and a center of attention of the leaders of both countries and a wide range of sectors in Germany and Jordan.

I firmly believe that the most important strategic achievement for this university is that it could take a quantum leap in the Jordanian society’s point of view towards the Applied Education; it found huge respect especially by the business sector which is now eager to attract the graduates of our university.

The second achievement is the statement of value-added diversification and flexibility in higher education, whereas the third achievement is offering a viable and excellent model in international partnerships in education to transfer knowledge and technology as well as to bridge the two civilizations and in intercultural communication.

There is no doubt that the fourth academic year spent by our students in Germany to study at one of the German partner universities and to train at the German institutions, is an important pillar that makes the university model distinguished among all the universities of the region.

The attention and the commitment that the university gives to the German Year, has helped the University to be a successful partner with more than 90 German partner universities, and to establish special relations with tens of German companies and institutions from the private sector.

Our relations with the German universities are not only confined to send our students there, but also receiving the German students to study at different schools in various disciplines at our university, as well as the exchange of professors and researchers. For each of the above, I think that the university is not only an educational institution; it forms a case of enlightenment in higher education and cultural communication. This enables it to be an important cultural gateway for Jordan to Germany and the developed world.

Ladies and Gentlemen…

The university was able during its’ first decade to launch many academic programs at the bachelor and the master’s levels, mainly within the engineering and technical disciplines, and some of them are offered in partnerships with some German and European universities.

These academic programs teach and train nearly four thousand students Distributed between Jordan and Germany. The University also managed to establish a number of educational, research and training centers, that are distinguished in their inputs and outputs.

Among the features of the flexibility and openness of the university is its’close relationships and multiple partnerships with many public and private institutions. Allow me to refer to some of them:

  • The University has partnership with Greater Amman Municipality through its‘ School of Architecture at Darat Othman Bdier, which was donated by engineer Othman Bedier; Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and the house of Ibrahim Hashim in the oldensector of Jabal Amman. The School puts a joint effort with Greater Amman Municipality to revitalize the area.
  • The University has partnerships with the private business sector, one of them is Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Graduate School of Business Administration, and the other is with the Federation of insurance companies through the establishment of a joint center for training and education in the field of insurance
  • The University has close strategic partnerships with several institutionssuch as, Hikma Pharmaceuticals Company, GIZ, SAP, DHL, DBI and Kuehne organizations.

Accordingly, the university put adopted, in the past decade,the slogan “E for E” in reference to “Education for Employment”. With the high rate of employment among our graduates, it is clear that the University has succeeded in making the slogan becoming reality. For the coming decade, we will adopt the slogan “E for E & E” in the reference to “Education for Entrepreneurship and Employment”.

We have started working on establishing a comprehensive program which aims to train our students and graduates to be creative for development, and in the creation of small businesses and self-employment, and connecting all the plans and academic programs in the various disciplines. In this context, we have the vision to make a part of the campus for business and industrial incubators linked with local, German and global companies.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen…

We are proud of our special relations with organizations that supported our university. Without this support, we would never be able to achieve the reputation that we have today. In addition to the Jordanian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, whom we thank for its support to the University, we are proud of our relationship with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the most important supporter of our project.

We also cherish our distinguished relationships with the DAAD; the other main supporter among our German partners and friends. I would also like to thank the German Embassy which we consider an important and active partner of the University. I also thank all dear German partner universities, which I apologize to mention all their names, as they are more than ninety Universities. We are very grateful to them for the reception of our students and what they offer us of a great and priceless service.

Each organization has its heroes who belong, are faithful to it and creative in their achievements and endless giving. I would like to mention some of the names that will remain shining stars in the sky of this university. Those who contributed to the founding of the university, I will mention: Dr. Labib Khadra; former president and founder of the University, Dr. Andreas Geiger, director of our project in Magdeburg University and its former president, Ikram Al Naji, Sana Faraj, Dr. Laila Yaghi, the late Raed Al Shawabkeh, Dr. Yasser Rajjal and Fawaz Al saqqar.

Also, those who chaired the boards of trustees: Mr. Khaldoun Abu Hassan, Dr. Fayez Al Khasawneh, Dr. Amin Mahmoud and the Engineer Mr. Othman Bedier. Those who have contributed in supporting the university, Dr. Khaled Toukan, Christian Thimme, Isabelle Mering from DAAD Foundation, Christoph Malburg from the team of Magdeburg’s office and the director of the office of the Industrial Links Britta Kaeler, considering the titles of all of them.

I would like to thank them all for their effort in building this edifice. I also thank some of the mentioned names for the effort they put throughout their work with me, I would like to thank my colleagues: Prof. Dr. Anton Mngstel, Prof. Dr. Manar Fayyad, Abd Al Hakeem Arabyat, Dr. Dorothea Jecht, in addition to the Deans, directors, Head of Departments, exchange coordinators with Germany and all academic and administrative members who work sincerely at the university.

Finally, a special thank goes to a real partner that I am honored to have coordinated with during the whole period of presidency; His Excellency the German Ambassador of Jordan Mr. Ralph Tarraf.

My heartfelt thanks go as well to the team who worked hard on this event and the multiple following activities over the tenth year of the University. Please Forgive me for not mentioning your names due to the limited time.

Ladies and gentlemen

In the last few days, we missed one of the heroes of our success story, the late Mr. Raed Shawabkeh, Director of Registration and Admission. I wish that I could see him among us today; expressing his pride in his contributionsin founding this edifice with a shy smile that has always characterized his facial expressions, which we all will miss, rest in peace Abu Own, we will never forget you.

I would like to announce our decision to name the main hall of the Admission and Registration building after the name of late Rae’d Al-Shawabkeh.

I wish you and us success, for our dear guests a pleasant stay in our beautiful Jordan, the safe, stable and strong in its Hashemite leadership.

May Peace and Mercy of God be upon you