The College of the North Atlantic – Qatar (CNA-Q) Alumni Association presented four inaugural awards at a recent event. The Honorary Alumni Appreciation Award, Friend of Alumni award and two Alumni of the Year awards were presented at Tawasul, the Alumni Networking Event.

Dr Latifa al-Houty was presented with the Honorary Alumni Appreciation Award while the Canadian Ambassador to Qatar Andre Dubois received the Friend of the Alumni award.

Dr al-Houty has been integral to the creation and success of CNA-Q. A member of the original Joint Oversight Board, her hard work and dedication saw the establishment of CNA-Q, from welcoming the first students in September 2002 to witnessing the 10th graduation ceremony in June 2014.

During her close and extremely productive association with CNA-Q, the College has grown from an institution with eight programmes and 108 students to the State’s leading technical educator with 39 programme areas and more than 2,100 students and 3,700 graduates.

Presenting the award, CNA-Q president Dr Ken MacLeod described Dr al-Houty as “a woman who has dedicated her life to the betterment of Qatar through the refinement of education. Her work at CNA-Q will demonstrate lasting benefits.”

Dr MacLeod described ambassador Dubois as “a true friend of CNA-Q, in every sense of the word.”

“Rare is the CNA-Q event or occasion that the ambassador does not attend.  He is an unflinching supporter of this college and for that we are truly thankful.”

This year’s event also saw the first Alumni of the Year awards presented to Gulam Hassan (Class of 2013) and Hussain al-Marri (Class of 2014).  They were recognised for their contributions to CNA-Q as students, their career success after graduation, their continued connection to the College and their work in the local community.

Almost 400 alumni members were treated to a variety of entertainment involving former and current CNA-Q students.

“Tawasul, the Alumni Networking event was an opportunity for graduates to network with potential employers as well as past colleagues as well as learn about the initiatives being launched by the CNA-Q Alumni Executive,” said Lauralee Kilgour, dean of Student Affairs. There are currently more than 3,400 CNA-Q Alumni pursuing successful careers in Qatar and around the globe.