HH Sheikha Moza at 5th Annual QF Convocation

With a spring in their step and a broad smile on their faces, hundreds of graduates proudly donned their traditional caps and robes as they walked side by side during Hamad bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) Convocation 2012.

This was the fifth such event to be held at Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) ,and the first to be held under the auspices of HBKU, which brings together all of the higher education and related research at QF.

One by one, students from each of the eight participating universities were called on stage, as family members and fellow graduates cheered them on during the ceremony held at Qatar National Convention Centre.

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of QF, led the charge to the Class of 2012 saying, “I see in you the blossoming of new futures, which I have worked so long to establish through the providing of quality education. And as we have helped create new futures for you, it is now your responsibility to create new futures for the coming generations who follow in your pioneering footsteps.”

Graduates were delighted to receive their graduation rings from His Excellency Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, President of HBKU and Vice President of Education at QF. In his opening speech, Dr Al-Thani congratulated the students on their outstanding achievement.

He said, “I have great pride in our graduates of 2012. I know you will use your skills to overcome the challenges you will face. But I also hope your achievements will give you the confidence to seek new solutions; to lead others, and to be inspired by them also. In this way you will continually develop your creative resources.”

Class of 2012 signifies the highest number of graduates in QF’s history, with 373 students participating in this year’s convocation. Indeed, since 2008 there has been a year on year increase, from 122 that year to 191 in 2009, 200 in 2010, and 243 last year. The gender gap has also narrowed, with an almost equal divide - 188 women and 185 men - making up the class of 2012.

Such progress is a testament to the vision set out to provide future generations with skills that will help the nation make the transition into a knowledge-based economy. And Qatari students seem to have heeded that message by making up 35 per cent of the graduating class this year.

A documentary about the class of 2012 was shown during the event. In the film, students from various fields, including medicine, computer science, design, Islamic studies, engineering, journalism and international relations, spoke fondly of their university experiences.

Josh Spear, one of the youngest and most influential marketing strategists in the world, delivered a memorable keynote speech to graduates. Spear’s insights on trends in art, design, and the future of digital media are highly valued and sought after by companies worldwide.

Spear said, “To the graduating class of 2012, we need to hear your dreams, your mother and father need to hear your dreams, your friends need to hear your dreams, Qatar needs to hear your dreams, and I can assure you that the world is ready to hear your dreams.

“We live in a very special time; you are very lucky graduates to enter the professional world today and I think you all know that. You are graduating at a time when there are more than a billion people connected together by the internet, ready to collaborate, to engage, to learn, to teach and to live side by side with you wherever they are in the world to make those dreams of yours come true.”

Thirty-five students made up the inaugural batch of graduates from Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q). They stood alongside 45 graduates from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, 32 from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q), 93 from Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ), 66 from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), 30 from Georgetown University – School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar), 41 from Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS), and 31 from HEC Paris in Qatar.