Texas A&M at Qatar celebrates new academic year at Convocation
Published Sep 22, 2011Texas A&M University at Qatar hosted its first-year students, their families, returning students and its faculty and staff at an Academic Convocation ceremony on 20 September at the Hamad bin Khalifa University Student Center Ballroom. The ceremony also recognized the University’s honor students, who earned a GPA over 3.5 in the previous academic year.
Speaking in the ceremony, Dr. Mark Weichold, dean and CEO, said, "Tonight’s academic convocation inaugurates the ninth year for Texas A&M University’s Qatar campus. Our contributions do not exist in a vacuum. Texas A&M at Qatar is and will continue to be valuable to Qatar because the University enthusiastically provides solutions and outcomes that directly meet this nation’s needs for successful growth and development."
Dr. Hassan Bazzi, associate professor of chemistry and keynote speaker for the ceremony, said, "A university education, as a chemical reaction, is non-spontaneous and requires input of energy. Its reagents are faculty, staff and students who share a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect. The reaction occurs as we move knowledge like electrons to form strong minds and instill a broad sense of ethics. This reaction’s outcome, or yield, is university graduates who are equipped with knowledge and life skills that enable them to contribute to the world around them.
"To my colleagues and to our students — our work, our vision, our duty is far greater than textbooks, classrooms or lab reports. Together we are building a generation of leaders and, I hope, a world in which peace and prosperity can thrive. Challenge yourself to be the strongest reagent in this very important endeavor, because in so many ways, our progress — our tomorrow — is in your hands."