Instructor: Angela Migally
Assistant Instructor: Reem Shraim
This SMSP leadership development program explores the ways in which leadership is enacted and effective in various national and cultural contexts. Have the standards remained static, or have they changed over time? How have leaders overcome the obstacles in their paths? What traits, if any, do they have in common? Do leaders make the times in which they serve, or do the times dictate the leaders who emerge? Are leadership skills innate, or can they be learned and developed?
Using readings and discussion about leadership theories, research, and trends, we focus not only on studying leaders, but also developing the leadership skills and potential of our SMSP Scholars. Readings include selections from biography, analysis and commentary, history, and autobiography. The seminar also features private sessions with prominent leadership figures from the UAE and the United States who will discuss their views, experiences, and firsthand observations about leadership. In recent years, the Scholars have met with notable leaders in the UAE such as:
- His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
- Her Highness Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
- The Right Honorable Gordon Brown, MP, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Distinguished Global Leader in Residence, NYU
- US Ambassador to the UAE, Barbara A. Leaf
- CNBC Arabiya CEO, Stephen F. Hall
- Chief Justice of the UAE Supreme Court, Dr. Abdul Wahab Abdul
- Minister of State, H.E. Zaki Nusseibeh
- First Vice President of the Federal National Council, H.E. Ahmed Bin Shabib Al Dhaheri
- Former US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor
- US Senator, Lamar Alexander
- US House of Representatives member, Diana DeGette
- Assistant Secretary of State, Philip Goldberg
- Middle East Advisor to Vice President Biden, Herro Mustafa
- Actress and playwright, Anna Deavere Smith
- UN Development Programme head, Stephane Dujarrac
- UAE Ambassador to the US, Yousef Al Otaiba
- US Supreme Court Associate Justice, Sonia Sotomayor
- Executive Director and Chaplain for the Islamic Center at NYU, Imam Khalid Latif
- The Right Honorable Lord Rabbi Sacks, Former Chief Rabbi, United Hebrew Congregation of the Commonwealth
- UAE Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, H.E. Lana Zaki Nusseibeh