Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, Founding Chairman, Al Habtoor Group welcomed the President of the College of Saint Benedict, Dr Mary Dana Hinton, to his office on Monday 17 April 2017. Hinton was accompanied by Kathy Hansen, Vice President, Institutional Advancement, College of Saint Benedict, and Dr Nada Mourtada-Sabbah, Secretary General of the University Leadership Consortium.
Dr Hinton is in the United Arab Emirates to take part at the Arab Knowledge Forum in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 18 April 2017 on invitation from His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development. The Arab Knowledge Forum brings together leading figures from industry, academic leadership and government as well as cohorts of the brightest young graduates of the leading universities.
They discussed the challenges faced by the world today, including weak leadership and global poverty. Dr Hinton praised Chairman Al Habtoor for his passion and commitment to alleviate world poverty, and emphasized that education plays a key role in stemming hardship. “The only way to confront fear in the world is to build hope though education,” she said. “Education is a top priority to develop human beings.”
She quoted Thomas Jefferson, the founding father of the United States of America who said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
Chairman Al Habtoor said America is the reservoir of leadership that should not be wasted. “There are so many good leaders in the US, we need to utilize them to improve the situation in the world. We have had enough wars.”
Dr Hinton told Chairman Al Habtoor that the College of Saint Benedict is the number one university in the US to send graduates to the Peace Corp. She told him about plans to create a Centre for Ethical Leadership in Action. A key function of the Centre will be to increase students’ opportunities for experimental learning, which include study abroad, undergraduate research, service learnings, fellowships and internship experiences.
Dr Hinton, who is the College of Saint Benedict’s 15th President, extended an invitation to Chairman Al Habtoor to deliver the Commencement Address at the prestigious college.
The College of Saint Benedict, in Minnesota, is a national liberal arts college for women, and one of only three Catholic colleges ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a top 100 liberal arts institution. The college has a unique partnership with nearby Saint John's University for men that expands the resources of both institutions, offering more than 60 areas of study and the distinct benefits of two nationally respected Catholic, undergraduate colleges.