Dr. Dwayne A. Banks, Dean of the School of Business Administration and Associate Professor of Economics, was awarded the prestigious Dubai Economic Research Award (DERA), at a ceremony that was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on February 25, 2008, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance. Dr. Banks won first prize in the Faculty Member division for his paper entitled: Enterprise Zones, Government Subsidies and Hospital Entry: The Case of the Dubai Health Care City (DHCC). The DERA competition was launched in 2004 to promote the economic research and development efforts of the UAE. In addition to having his research included in a compendium of the best research papers in the UAE, Dr. Banks was awarded a cash prize of AED100,000. As stated in the keynote address of Mr. Khalid Al Kassim, Deputy Director General for Planning and Development, “the efforts of the DERA winners will support the economic development of Dubai and the UAE”.

Dr. Banks’ achievement highlights the level of scholarship at AUD, and the ever increasing role of the School of Business Administration (SBA) as a resource for assisting both public and private sector entities in achieving their strategic objectives.