Abu Dhabi Welcomes 21 New Faculty Members

The new members of the community hail from world-class institutions from 12 different countries.

NYU Abu Dhabi has welcomed 21 highly accomplished and diverse scholars to continue their scholarship in the UAE and impart their knowledge on our students.

The new hires include Nadia El Cheikh who comes to NYUAD from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, where she was the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a professor of history. Prior to joining NYUAD, El Cheikh was leading a division of 3,700 students, 400 faculty, and 100 staff. She is a highly accomplished scholar of the Abbasid Caliphate and Byzantium, with a focus on women, gender, and Islam.

The new faculty come to NYUAD focusing on a range of fascinating subjects in almost every academic discipline. The new members of the community are coming from 12 different countries having held positions in some of the top institutions around the world.

Ranging in experience and topics, the faculty bring with them a wealth of specializations to the community including lessons from a 30-year project documenting the evolution of Las Vegas as an urban phenomenon, to real-time embedded control systems and robotics. The scholars have come to NYUAD to teach and continue their research on a wide array of subjects. 

Detailed information about the faculty can be found here. 

Office of the Provost

  • Nadia El Cheikh, Vice Provost for Cultural and Research Engagement, PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, USA

Arts and Humanities

  • Mark Jenkinson, Assistant Arts Professor - BFA in Photography, The Cooper Union, USA
  • Jing Chai, Senior Language Lecturer of Chinese - MA in Chinese, East China Normal University, China
  • Mathura Govindarajan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Interactive Media - MPS in Interactive Telecommunications, NYU, USA
  • Venkatesan (Ram) Natarajan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Writing - PhD in Anthropology, NYU, USA
  • Kim Robertson, Adjunct Associate Professor Art & Art History - MFA in Print, Royal College of Art, UK

Engineering

  • Konstantinos Kyriakopoulos, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering - PhD in Computer and Systems Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA

Science

  • Niobe Way, Professor of Applied Psychology - EdD in Human Development and Psychology, Harvard University, USA
  • Sana Odeh, Clinical Professor of Computer Science - MA in Educational and Information Technology, NYU, USA
  • Lefteris Kirousis, Visiting Professor of Computer Science - PhD in Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
  • Yves Le Jan, Visiting Professor of Mathematics - PhD in Mathematics, Pierre and Marie Curie University (Université Paris 6), France
  • Lucia Delogu, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology - PhD in Biochemistry, Biology, and Biotechnology, University of Sassari, Italy

Social Science

  • Jeff Manza, Professor of Sociology - PhD in Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, USA
  • Carlos Alós-Ferrer, Visiting Professor of Microeconomics - PhD in Economics, University of Alicante, Spain
  • Melvyn Coles, Visiting Professor of Economics - PhD in Economics, Princeton University, USA
  • Paul Craig, Visiting Professor of Law - BCL, University of Oxford, UK
  • Nadine Debbas Achkar, Visiting Professor of Practice of Legal Studies - JD, Columbia University School of Law, USA
  • Barbara Constance Scheck, Visiting Professor of Business, Organizations and Society - PhD in Business Administration, Technical University Munich, Germany
  • Myrna Wooders, Visiting Professor of Economics - PhD in Economics, University of Minnesota, USA
  • Johanna Haefke, Visiting Professor of Economics - Dr.rer.soc.oec in Business Education, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
  • Ömer F. Örsün, Visiting Lecturer of Political Science - PhD in Political Science,
    Koç University, Turkey