Dr. Behjat AlYousuf was made Interim Provost of Masdar Institute in May 2015.
Dr. AlYousuf’s career spans over 24 years of experience in higher education in the UAE. Her academic experience began in 1990 at the Higher Colleges of Technology as a faculty member of the Information Technology Department, where she later became Program Chair in 2001. Dr. AlYousuf was also appointed as the Associate Director of Dubai Women’s College from 2006 to 2012 and led the development of the Center for Human Capital Development at Zayed University in 2012.
Dr. AlYousuf’s last role before joining Masdar Institute was as the Executive Director of Human Capital Development at Zayed University. Prior to that post, she was the Associate Director of the Higher Colleges of Technology Dubai Women’s College.
Before being made Interim Provost, Dr. AlYousuf was the Dean of Students at Masdar Institute, where she helped create and implement the Office of Student Affairs. During her time as Dean of Students, she worked closely with the President and Executive Council of Masdar Institute to address institutional issues and jointly helped in continuous improvement of Masdar Institute. Dr. AlYousuf is also involved in the Zayed Future Energy Prize, where she chairs the selection committee that works to recognize and reward sustainable energy innovators.
In Dr. AlYousuf’s expansive career she has led strategic planning and execution, academic quality assurance, curriculum design to meet international accreditation, benchmarking, and partnering with local and international industry to drive student success. She has led strategies to deliver high quality education to UAE national women and foster the increase of Emirati women in the technological workforce to above 90% through industry partnerships.
Dr. AlYousuf also has a track-record of presenting ground-breaking research to international professional bodies, including delivery of multiple publications on subjects ranging from education, entrepreneurship and technology and presentation of key papers at prestigious regional and international events. Dr. AlYousuf has held leadership roles in key domestic and international forums and is a member of various international organizations and academic committees.
Over the years she has earned numerous awards and recognitions, namely UAE businesswomen award for Career Achievement and the UAE Sheikh Rashid Award for Scientific Achievement. In 2008, she was voted as one of the 20 most powerful UAE women by Emirates Woman Magazine. Dr Al Yousuf also serves on different international and regional groups such as UN Global Alliances for Information Development (UN GAID), World Federation of Women Engineering, International Taskforce for Women in Technology, Women Center for ICT and Women Educational Worldwide, and Dubai Quality Group. Her work has also focused on empowering women in the knowledge economy through sustaining women’s careers in the field of technology and science. In April 2009, Dr. AlYousuf became a member of the UN GAID Strategic Council for ICT Development.
Dr. AlYousuf was awarded the prestigious United Arab Emirates Business Women Award for Career Achievements in 2006 and the Sheikh Rashid Award for Scientific achievement, in addition to Outstanding Community and Leadership awards. In April 2008, INSEAD and the UAE’s National newspaper recognized her as one of 20 most influential women in UAE.
Dr. AlYousuf earned her doctorate in Software Engineering from Reading University in the UK, an MSc in Computer Science from Cardiff University, UK, and a BSc in Computer Engineering from University of North Carolina in Charlotte, USA.
