Grads

The board of trustees of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), unanimously elected Dr. Dawn Dekle (psychology ’93) as the new president of AUIS. Dekle was formerly the provost at the American University of Afghanistan and began her new duties in late August. This made her the first female president of an Iraqi university. As she accepted the position, Dekle remarked, “I am honored and privileged to be given the opportunity to lead this institution which has already done so much to strengthen higher education in Kurdistan and Iraq and with the potential to do even more.”

AUIS is Iraq’s only nonprofit institution for public benefit. Academic programs, taught in English by international faculty members, are designed to meet or exceed standards set by regional accreditation organizations in the United States. It is the objective of the university to produce graduates of responsible character with the necessary knowledge and skills for professional and national leadership. The nearly 1,000 students at AUIS come from all over Iraq and represent the country’s diverse ethnic and religious landscape. Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, Christians and Yezidis, among others, populate the growing student body. At AUIS the devout and the agnostic interact freely, as do males and females.

As president of AUIS Dekle will oversee efforts to earn regional accreditation in the United States; build academic programs that continue to attract top students from across the country; and strengthen resource acquisition, allocation and management, including the establishment of an endowment capable of supporting scholarships, construction, faculty development and co-curricular activities.

Dekle earned her undergraduate degree with honors from Texas A&M University. She went on to achieve a Ph.D. in experimental psychology (cognitive science) from Dartmouth and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. She held faculty appointments at the National University of Singapore, James Madison University and Dartmouth. As a pioneer member of the faculty at Singapore Management University, she served as the head of its Teaching Excellence program and held academic appointments in its school of business and school of economics and social sciences. Before her move to Afghanistan Dekle served as dean of the undergraduate program and dean of the center of leadership for the S.P. Jain School of Management in Singapore. She was provost at the American University of Afghanistan for two years. During her tenure there she implemented undergraduate law and graduate business programs and led the institution’s U.S. regional accreditation efforts. She also held leadership positions outside of academia. She was a member of the board for the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and a leadership specialist and global knowledge manager at the consulting firm McKinsey & Co, where she helped launch the McKinsey Center for Asian Leadership. As a scholar of leadership and management Dekle has published in academic journals, presented at international conferences, given keynote addresses for the Young Presidents Organization and served as an analyst for television and radio regarding President Obama’s strategies in Asia and the Middle East.

175 Greensboro Road, Hanover, NH 03755; (603) 643-3789; m.jane.welsh.adv98@alum. dartmouth.org