President Bill Clinton, Keynote Speaker at AUD's Fifth AUD Commencement

Under the Patronage of HH General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defense The American University in Dubai held its Fifth Commencement Exercises on June 11, 2002. The Honorable William J. Clinton, 42 nd President of the United States , was the Keynote Speaker.

Since leaving office in 2000, Mr. Clinton has provided leadership to the activities of the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Foundation. Recent Foundation activities include co-convening the international conference, Islam and America in a Global World, with New York University School of Law and the Georgetown Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding; helping to establish and guide the activities of the American India Foundation whose mission is to rebuild the communities devastated by the earthquake in Gujarat; launching, in cooperation with Nelson Mandela and City Year (a service corps organization), a program that joins black and white South African youth in service to their communities and country; developing an exploratory initiative with economist Hernando de Soto aimed at replicating de Soto's success in Peru in bringing poor people's businesses and homes into legal property systems to be used as collateral for credit; working in New York with Harlem citizens and community leaders to design a set of economic development projects focused on the needs of small businesses; and creating with City Year the Clinton Democracy Fellowship Program, which brings young leaders together from around the world to learn about citizen service and develop strategies for finding solutions to common problems.

Under his leadership as President (1993-2001), the United States enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in American history. President Clinton's core values of building community, creating opportunity and demanding responsibility resulted in unprecedented progress for the US, including moving from record deficits to record surpluses; the creation of over 22 million jobs-more than any other administration; low levels of unemployment, poverty and crime; and the highest homeownership rate in history. On the international front, Mr. Clinton's contribution to the Middle Eastern peace process constitutes one of his Administration's many foreign policy successes. His personal involvement is remembered and appreciated by all peoples of the Region and the larger international community

An audience of approximately 1,000, including several dignitaries and other prominent members of the local UAE community, attended the ceremony at which ninety-seven undergraduate and graduate students received their American-accredited degrees. Among this group were students receiving the Associate of Arts (AA) degree, Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) across various concentrations; and those receiving the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Visual Communication and Interior Design. All graduate students received the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. These degrees were conferred under the authority granted by the Education Licensure Commission of Washington, DC ( USA ) and the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Three students were honored for achieving the highest academic standing in each of the University's degree-granting disciplines: Dina Mulani (Interior Design), Faeza Yusufali (Visual Communication) and Manoj Shankardas Lakhinai (Business Administration).

Valedictorian honors were granted to Namrata Laungani (Business Administration) who addressed the convocation on behalf of the class.