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| Ilker Baybars |
The new Dean of Carnegie Mellon University–Qatar (CMUQ) yesterday unveiled some upcoming developments including adding more courses and faculty at the university as the institution tries to draw in more Qatari students.
Dean Ilker Baybars, speaking to the media, said CMUQ’s business school will be adding more courses and faculty in the next year, particularly in finance and marketing.
He said CMUQ has specific plans to increase enrolment of Qatari students at the school. Out of around 100 students admitted this year, 42 of them are Qatari nationals, which he said is good considering the fact that Qataris only make up around 15% of the population.
He also said that over 50% of the business students are female because families are not as comfortable sending their daughters overseas, so CMUQ has provided an ideal option for outstanding students.
Outside of the business school, Baybars said that CMUQ has added a Biological Sciences programme in the last year, in partnership with Weill Cornell Medical University, and aims to recruit 10-15 new students in that field next year. The number of courses in the programme will increase along with the number of faculty members as the first-year students move into their second year. He expects to have 40-50 Biological Science majors in total as students progress through the programme, and in a couple of years CMUQ will be adding a programme in Computational Biology, giving a total of 60-80 students in biological sciences.
He also revealed that CMUQ are in discussion with Qatar Foundation and Hamad bin Khalifa University and expects that within two to three years the university will have its first graduate programme.
Newly arrived to his current home and job, Baybars said that what would make him happiest, and what is ultimately his biggest challenge in the coming year, will be to bring 10-12 new faculty members, mostly from the main Carnegie Mellon campus in Pennsylvania, USA to Qatar. He said that it is difficult to convince people to move so far away from home once they are settled, but the good living conditions here and the strong support from Qatar Foundation for the school and staff are favourable, so he is optimistic.
Commenting on his new role, Baybars said: “This is a young school, only seven years old, we’re still growing. My job is – the baby is now walking, I’m going to make sure it walks properly. We have good students, good programmes, and we’re going to bring it to a higher level. It’s an opportunity for me to leave my mark here, so I think it’s going to be exciting.”
He said that his favourite part of the job is to watch students enter the university at 18-19 years old, and in four years watch them grow, mature, and learn all kinds of things.
Baybars joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 1978, and has been with them for 41 years. As well as being the new Dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar he is the Deputy Dean Emeritus; George L Bach Chair; and Professor of Operations Management at the Tepper School of Business in Carnegie Mellon University, where he was also previously Deputy Dean.
He received his BS degree from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, before earning his MS and PhD at Carnegie Mellon.