Under patronage of H.H. Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Second cohort of students graduate from leading

Executive MBA programme

 

• H.H Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum attends the graduation ceremony
• City University London MOA to introduce and host new academic programmes with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)
• British Ambassador and Dr Nasser Saidi, Chief Economist & Head of External Relations in the DIFC Authority addresses Cass Business School Dubai’s graduation ceremony
• Second annual Cass UAE International Study Tour draws to a close, participants given an ‘insight into the  dynamics of doing business in Arab world’

 

The second cohort of students graduated from the world-leading Cass Business School Executive MBA programme delivered in Dubai in a ceremony held at DIFC yesterday under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Al Maktoum, and attended by H.H Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman Dubai Airport, President, Dubai Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman and CEO, Emirates, HE Ahmed Humaid Al TAyer, Governor of DIFC and H.E. Mr Dominic Jermey CVO OBE , HM Ambassador to the UAE.

The Cass EMBA is a flexible part-time course aimed at managers in the Gulf region who want to accelerate their career development whilst remaining in full-time employment. The course has the same content as Cass’s London-based Executive MBA, which in 2010 was ranked second in the UK, fourth in Europe and 10th in the world by the Financial Times. Graduates from this year’s EMBA programme include top level executives from across the Gulf region, representing varied industries including energy, engineering, commerce, manufacturing, finance, legal and government. 

HE Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, Governor of DIFC said: “As part of its efforts to help develop and grow the financial services sector in the region, DIFC has supported and introduced a wide range of executive education programmes that help professionals remain at the forefront of the industry. Programmes, such as the Cass Executive MBA, give regional talent the opportunity to access the very best of global management thinking, research and practice, equipping them with the knowledge needed to face the rapidly changing business environment. We wish the second cohort of graduates the best of luck in their future endeavours and hope they continue to contribute to the growth of the financial services industry.”

Professor Paul Curran, Vice Chancellor of City University London, which Cass Business School is a part of, said of the EMBA programme’s continued success, “I am pleased to congratulate this year’s graduates on their EMBA achievement.  The Cass Business School EMBA is consistently ranked amongst the best in the world and is taught by experts who advise leading companies, the authors of important business texts and pioneering researchers, and I have no doubt that these graduates’ professional lives will be enriched as a result of the Cass EMBA programme.  As our graduates now complete their transition from Cass students to highly regarded Cass alumni, on behalf of the University I wish them the very best”.

As the first EMBA programme in the world to offer specialisations in Islamic Finance and Oil and Energy Economics, the Cass EMBA is regionally-relevant, offering electives in Global Real Estate Markets, and Entrepreneurship and Family Business.  The EMBA has become increasingly popular, student admissions to the EMBA programme in Dubai have grown by 90 per cent in the last four years. 

London Students Visit UAE

The past week has been eventful for the London-based Cass delegates, who in addition to the attending the graduation ceremony, have been participating in the annual international Cass Study Tour.  The tour provides a unique learning experience, exposing participants to the economic, financial and cultural issues facing Middle Eastern states.  To equip the EMBA students with a better understanding of the key industry sectors in the UAE, the tour’s participants met with decision-makers from some of the UAE’s most significant companies, from sectors as varied as conventional and renewable energy, Islamic finance, telecommunications, real estate development, and aviation. 

The study tour provides an important global perspective according to Richard Gillingwater CBE, Dean of Cass Business School.   “This second study tour to the UAE hosted by Cass Business School is indicative of the UAE’s standing as an important economic and financial hub in the Middle East; it is seen by many as an island of stability in a region undergoing a period of significant change, with all of the associated uncertainties which that change brings.  For our course participants, the UAE international study tour gives an invaluable global perspective to business education.  Such international collaborations have become increasingly relevant in today’s global marketplace, and the initiative provides fresh perspectives on the dynamics of doing business in the Arab world”, said Gillingwater.

MOA signed to introduce and host MScs in Aviation

As part of City University London’s commitment to expand in the region, Professor Curran yesterday met with H.E Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer to witness signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) relating to the introduction and hosting of three MSc programmes in aviation, launching from the DIFC campus.   City University London, of which Cass is a part, has been running Masters courses in Air Transport Management, Air Safety Management (initiated by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators) and Aircraft Maintenance Management (supported by AJ Walter Aviation) since 1997.  The City University London Aviation MSc programmes have over 400 students world-wide, including 90 current students from the Gulf region.  

Ehsan Razavizadeh, Regional Director of Cass Business School, City University London MENA region, commented, “The UAE – indeed the Gulf in general - has become a major player in global aviation, and we are pleased to host these programmes; providing a clear academic framework around the professional experiences of airline staff such as pilot and air traffic controllers, and enabling them to increase their competence and knowledge.  Higher education in any industry, especially one as broad as aviation, helps to increase skills and adds weight to résumés in what has become a very competitive local marketplace”.

A part of City University London, Cass Business School launched a DIFC-based campus in Dubai in 2007.   Classes for the Executive MBA are delivered by esteemed Cass academics who visit Dubai over a long weekend once a month. Supported by the School’s online learning platform, CassLearn, which is used for online tutorials, group discussion and research, the course’s comprehensive electives cover topics such as Private Equity, Leadership and Change Management, Advanced Corporate Strategy, Islamic Economics, Islamic Law of Business Transactions, Islamic Banking and Finance, Entrepreneurship, Global Real Estate Markets, as well as Mergers and Acquisitions, Advanced Corporate Finance and Private Equity.  Cass Business School welcomes applications from committed and ambitious executives to the EMBA programme.  The university is hosting information sessions on May 19th at DIFC and ‘one-to-one’ appointments on May 23rd in Abu Dhabi.  Interested parties can visit the Cass website www.cass.city.ac.uk or call +971 4401 9318 for further information or to arrange an appointment.