King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Names Dr. Edward M. Hundert as Vice President for University Initiatives

Internationally Renowned Academic Leader Joining KAUST Senior Leadership Team

Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (July 2, 2008) – KAUST President-designate Choon Fong Shih and Interim President Nadhmi Al-Nasr today announced the selection of Dr. Edward M. Hundert as Vice President for University Initiatives. Dr. Hundert assumes his new position immediately.

Dr. Hundert, 51, is an internationally renowned academic leader, scholar, physician, educator and medical ethicist. Over the past 20 years, he has served as president of Case Western Reserve University, dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and associate dean for Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School, all in the United States. He has held professorial appointments in psychiatry, medical ethics, cognitive science, and medical humanities, and is a leader in developing innovative institutional affiliations and curricula across all levels of higher education. Over the past two years, he has worked as a consultant to KAUST as a director of the Washington Advisory Group, a leading U.S.-based academic consultancy, and has served as executive secretary of the KAUST Presidential Search Committee and the KAUST Academic Leadership Search Committee. Dr. Hundert is an award-winning teacher at Harvard Medical School, where he will continue as senior lecturer in medical ethics, a part-time professorship through which he co-directs Harvard’s course in medical ethics each year.

Commenting today, President-designate Choon Fong Shih noted that Dr. Hundert has already played a vital role in KAUST's development. "We have the unique opportunity to build KAUST as a research university for the 21st century right from the word go. Working closely with Dr. Hundert, I have seen his passion and experience contributing richly to our endeavor of building a global research university at the intersection of East and West. He is a leader who thinks strategically and creatively, a scholar who understands how science and technology can transform lives, as well as an educator who inspires and touches the lives of students."

KAUST Interim President Nadhmi Al-Nasr reflected on Dr. Hundert’s already-sizeable contributions to KAUST’s development. “KAUST is moving swiftly toward Opening Day in 2009. With Dr. Hundert’s wise and energetic counsel over the past two years, our academic structure is developing as swiftly and strongly as the physical construction of the campus. In every encounter, in every meeting, I have been struck by the depth of his understanding and his ability to bring out the best in people. We are thrilled to have him as a member of the KAUST senior leadership team.”

At KAUST, Dr. Hundert will report directly to the president and work within the Office of the President to catalyze many initiatives that will be required to ensure the success of the University over the years ahead. In addition to continuing his several roles in the selection processes for other senior leaders, faculty, and trustees, Dr. Hundert is already leading a number of other initiatives, including KAUST’s partnership with the Library of Congress under the auspices of UNESCO to digitize, translate and annotate worldwide materials connected with the history of Arabic and Islamic science for the World Digital Library. Another set of initiatives will involve the development of research centers in the biomedical area to be added over the years ahead to KAUST’s initial group of research centers. Dr. Hundert will also work closely with Founding President Shih and Founding Provost Ulaby in the recruitment of faculty.

“KAUST is unprecedented in the history of higher education – it is a privilege to join the remarkable team of people who are working so hard to make this extraordinary vision a reality,” said Dr. Hundert. “I consider the research university to be the single greatest creation of the human mind, and I have always been drawn to the connection through which a powerful learning environment can have a transformative effect not only on students, faculty, and staff, but on society itself. The King’s bold vision for KAUST takes this connection to the global level. The enthusiastic response of KAUST’s many international university and industry partners has already proven how compelling this vision is, and how, working together with these committed partners, KAUST can provide positive benefit not only to Saudi Arabia, but to the Middle East region and indeed to the entire world.”

Biographical Summary

Dr. Edward M. Hundert is an internationally renowned academic leader, scholar, physician, educator and medical ethicist. Over the past 20 years, he has served as president of Case Western Reserve University, dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and associate dean for Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School, all in the United States. He has held professorial appointments in psychiatry, medical ethics, cognitive science, and medical humanities, and is a leader in developing innovative institutional affiliations and curricula across all levels of higher education.

A native of the United States, Dr. Hundert has served on many national U.S. boards, including the Association of American Universities, the American Association of Medical Colleges, and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. He co-chaired the Institute of Medicine's National Summit on Health Professions Education. Dr. Hundert has written dozens of articles and chapters on a variety of topics in psychiatry, philosophy, medical ethics, and medical education, as well as two books: Philosophy, Psychiatry and Neuroscience: Three Approaches to the Mind (Oxford University Press) and Lessons from an Optical Illusion: On Nature and Nurture, Knowledge and Values (Harvard University Press). He will continue as senior lecturer in medical ethics at Harvard Medical School, and as a member of the boards of TIAA-CREF and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Dr. Hundert earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and the history of science and medicine, summa cum laude, from Yale University, where he received Yale's Chittenden Prize “to the graduating senior with highest standing in mathematics or the natural sciences.” He attended Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar, receiving the Batterby Prize from Hertford College for “highest first class honors in philosophy, politics and economics.” Four years later, he earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, receiving the Sanger Prize for “excellence in psychiatric research.” He completed his psychiatric residency at McLean Hospital, a Harvard affiliate, where he served as chief resident. He has received numerous teaching, mentoring, and diversity awards, and for six consecutive years was voted the “faculty member who did the most for the class” by Harvard Medical School graduates.

About KAUST

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is being built in Saudi Arabia as an international, graduate-level research university dedicated to inspiring a new age of scientific achievement in the Kingdom, across the region and around the globe. As an independent, merit-based institution, KAUST will enable top researchers from around the globe and across all cultures to work together to solve challenging scientific and technological problems. The KAUST global research and education network will support diverse talents both on its campus and at other premier universities and research institutions through collaborative research agreements, grants, and student scholarship programs. The core campus, located on more than 36 million square meters on the Red Sea at Thuwal, is set to open in September 2009. For more information about KAUST, visit http://www.kaust.edu.sa.