Student Affairs

Student Affairs provides students with the support and opportunities they need to translate their curricular learning and personal experiences into an integrated education that prepares them for a lifetime of ethical leadership, grounded in the culture and tradition of the United Arab Emirates. Our services and programs directly support the academic, personal, and professional success of NYU Abu Dhabi students so that they may graduate prepared to make an impact in their communities and shape a more collaborative, inclusive world.

Student Affairs brings together multiple functional areas within student affairs including career development, student involvement, community outreach, athletics, residential education, fitness, cultural engagement, spiritual life, health and wellness, accessibility services, and more — to help students of 120+ nationalities maximize their educational experience and reach their full potential.

Student Affairs collaborates with students to explore individual and collective meaning in their personal, intellectual, professional, and social lives. We cultivate belonging within a uniquely intercultural community; catalyze lifelong development for a complex world; and foster meaningful engagement with the United Arab Emirates.

Leader Profile

Baishakhi Taylor is a member of the University’s senior leadership team and oversees the Division of Student Affairs, which comprises the following departments: Student Life, the Career Development Center, Community Outreach, Spiritual Life and Intercultural Education, the student Health Center, Student Success and Well-being, and Athletics. 

Taylor holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Kentucky, a master’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Northern Iowa, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India. She is fluent in several languages, including Bangla, Hindi/Urdu, and German.

Prior to joining NYU Abu Dhabi, Taylor served as the Dean of the College at Smith College in Northampton, MA. She oversaw academic advising, international students, student affairs, residential life, student engagement, health and counseling services, athletics, career services, and disability services. 

Baishakhi joined Smith College from Middlebury College, where she served as Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, and as Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies. During her tenure at Middlebury, Taylor co-led the Alliance for Inclusive Middlebury, a presidential committee charged with developing a strategic plan for making inclusion a priority for the institution.

Prior to her work at Middlebury, Taylor served as the associate dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University and the program director of DukeEngage-Kolkata. She was also a member of the faculty at the Duke Center for South Asian Studies.

Additional Key People