Last March, we launched the Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings advisory board. The board met several times throughout the year to discuss the opportunities and challenges for higher education across the Arab region, which resulted in improvements to the Arab University Rankings.
In November, the board agreed to recruit new members, and we invited applications from across the Arab region. There were many high-quality applications, perhaps unsurprising given that this is the fastest-improving university region in the world. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who took the time to submit an application to help us improve our ranking.
We are very pleased to announce that the Arab University Rankings advisory board has now been expanded, with six new members from six countries and a wide range of experience. In total, the board now has 15 members, seven women and eight men, from 10 countries.
The six new board members are shown at the end of the full list of board members:
Name |
Position |
Affiliation |
Country |
Date joined |
Yusra Mouzughi |
Provost |
Birmingham University Dubai |
United Arab Emirates |
03/23 |
Victoria Lindsay |
Founding president and vice-chancellor |
The British University of Iraq |
Iraq |
03/23 |
Maryam Riaz Wattoo |
Adviser |
Higher Education Affairs at Ministry of Education |
United Arab Emirates |
03/23 |
Hanene Boussi |
Head of rankings and analysis |
Tunisia |
03/23 |
|
Georges Yahchouchi |
President |
Kuwait |
03/23 |
|
Anas Ratib Alsoud |
Vice-president |
Jordan |
03/23 |
|
Ahmed Al Kuwaiti |
Associate professor and dean of deanship of quality and academic accreditation |
Saudi Arabia |
03/23 |
|
David Watkins |
Managing director of data science; chair of Arab University Rankings advisory board |
Times Higher Education |
UK |
03/23 |
Loubaba El Wazir |
Arab University Rankings product owner |
Times Higher Education |
Lebanon |
03/23 |
Narimane |
CEO |
Center of Learning Innovations and Customized Knowledge Solutions (CLICKS) |
United Arab Emirates |
02/24 |
Iman Megahed |
Associate vice-president for digital transformation, chief strategy and knowledge officer |
Egypt |
02/24 |
|
Izzudin Busnaina |
Head of strategic planning and international ranking team |
Libya |
02/24 |
|
George Nasr |
Provost |
Lebanon |
02/24 |
|
Abdullah M. Elias |
Director of rankings, strategy and institutional advancement unit (RASU) |
Saudi Arabia |
02/24 |
|
Mohammed Hussein Ahmed |
Director general |
Ministry of Higher Education, Kurdistan region of Iraq |
Iraq |
02/24 |
The advisory board is an important part of our commitment to increase the transparency of our approach – as we have seen with our Impact Rankings advisory board and our World University Rankings advisory board.
The board meets four times a year, including at least one in-person event, and THE will assist the members with information and administrative support.
The Arab University Rankings were created in 2021 to support the rapid growth in the quantity and quality of universities in the Arab region. In the 2021 iteration, 125 universities were ranked, plus 30 reporter institutions; the 2023 table sees 207 universities ranked, with a further 106 reporters.
David Watkins is managing director of data science at Times Higher Education, and chair of the Arab University Rankings advisory board.
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