University Cabinet
University senior leadership, known as the Cabinet, ensures that strategic goals are set and met.
The Cabinet is composed of the following members:
Dr. Karim Seghir has an extensive and geographically diverse professional experience. Born in France and raised in Tunisia, Dr. Seghir earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1997 from the University of Tunis. He then earned a Master of Science in Mathematical Methods in Economics and Finance and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Economics and Finance from University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne in 1998 and 2002, respectively.
Dr. Seghir served as a post-doc researcher at Universidade NOVA in Lisbon from September 2002 to September 2004. He has also served as a visiting professor at Pontificia Universidade Catolica in Rio de Janeiro in 2003 and at Universidad de Chile in 2010. Dr. Seghir served as assistant professor of Economics at the American University of Beirut from September 2004 to September 2006. He was then appointed as assistant professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC). Dr. Seghir was appointed as associate dean for undergraduate studies and administration of the AUC School of Business in June 2011 and then dean in July 2014. As associate dean for undergraduate studies, Dr. Seghir has managed AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA accreditations among other things. As dean, Dr. Seghir has ensured the AACSB and EQUIS re-accreditations of the AUC School of Business, introduced academic and executive education initiatives that touched on strategic areas such as entrepreneurship, family business, international business in the MENA region, retail banking and GoGlobal executive education program. Under the deanship of Dr. Seghir, the School of Business has partnered with the Commercial International Bank (CIB) to launch the "AUC Venture Lab FinTech Accelerator," whose first cycle has started in December 2016. Dean Seghir has also played a pivotal role in enabling the AUC School of Business to bridge the gap between academia and community by engaging strategic stakeholders. During his tenure as Dean, Dr. Seghir significantly increased external funds and research grants and enhanced the quality and the volume of research at the school.
Dr. Seghir has served as a panelist in various regional and international events including AACSB, EFMD, PRME, Economic Research Forum and the World Bank. He also served as Peer Review Team member for AACSB and EQUIS accreditation visits in the Arab region and beyond. In January 2017, Dr. Seghir has been appointed as a member of the Advisory Board of Harvard Business Review (HBR) Arabia.
Dr. Seghir’s research interests include mathematical economics, general equilibrium theory, financial markets, credit markets and default. He has published in top-tier journals in Economics such as Games and Economic Behavior, Economic Theory and Journal of Mathematical Economics. He also served as referee for leading academic journals such as Economic Theory and Journal of Mathematical Economics.
Dr. Seghir taught microeconomics, mathematical economics, financial economics, decision under uncertainty and game theory at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Dr. Seghir is passionate about sports, especially squash and soccer; music; poetry and psychology.
Dr. Abdulhaq Basheer Hassan was appointed Vice Chancellor for Communication and Community Affairs at Ajman University in 2019. With his training in reputed institutions in the U.K. and experience of working in different milieu, he provides leadership of a consistently high standard across the University. Dr. Hassan works closely with community leaders to enhance the branding & positioning of the university’s image.
Dr. Hassan previously served as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs & Community Services, Director of Community Service Department and dean of Student Affairs. He led major events at the University including Commencements, Conferences, Global Days, Orientation days, etc. He assisted in maintaining an effective relations with corporates, friends, companies, and government authorities that are important for AU’s mission & vision.
Dr. Hassan made significant contributions to the social welfare of AU students. He plans events that enhance the recruitment of new students, increases the success of students and helps them reach out the wider to local communities. Through these endeavors, students gain valuable leadership and management skills related to successful communication, team work and time management.
Dr. Assaleh earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 1993, an M.S. in Electronic Engineering from Monmouth University, New Jersey in 1990, and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1988.
Dr. Assaleh joined Ajman University (AU) in July 2017 as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. In this capacity, he oversees the academic operations of the university colleges, the Deanship of Students affairs, the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Research, the Continuing Education Center, the Office of International Affairs, the Innovation Center Ajman (ICA) and the Office of Admissions and Registration.
Before joining AU, Dr. Assaleh was a member of the senior administration at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) responsible for research and graduate studies where he served as interim Vice Provost from 2014 to June 2017 and Director of Graduate Studies from 2011 to 2014. He was also a professor at the department of electrical engineering where he taught courses in the areas of signal processing and pattern recognition. His research interests include bio-signal processing, biometrics, speech and image processing, and pattern recognition.
Prior to joining AUS Dr. Assaleh worked as a Research Professor at the CAIP Center of Rutgers University, New Jersey from 1993 to 1994. He then had a career in industry from 1994 through 2002 as a Senior Staff Engineer with Motorola in Phoenix, Arizona, and as an Engineering Group Leader with Rockwell Semiconductor Systems (Conexant/Skyworks) in Newport Beach, California.
Dr. Assaleh holds 11 US patents and has published over 120 articles in signal/image processing and pattern recognition and their applications. He has served on the organization committees of several international conferences including ISSPA, ICCSPA, MECBME and ISMA. He has also served as a guest editor for several special issues of journals. Dr. Assaleh is a senior member of the IEEE. A full record of his publications and citations can be found in his google scholar profile: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nq7m6zcAAAAJ&hl=en
Dr. Mustahsan Mir received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering, M.S. degree in Computer, Information, and Control Engineering, and M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, all from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA in 1983, 1981, and 1979, respectively. He received his B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering (Gold Medalist) from the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore, Pakistan in 1976.
Dr. Mir served Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia from 1984 to 2001 where he was a founding member of the Department of Electrical Engineering and the College of Engineering. At Umm Al-Qura University he received a number of awards including the “Best Teacher of the College of Engineering” and the “Distinguished Teacher of the University”. In August 2001, he joined Ajman University as a Professor and served as Head of the Electrical Engineering Department from 2012 to 2016. In January 2017, he became the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. In this role, Dr. Mir promoted many initiatives for the first time in Ajman University such as establishing a system of internal research grants, formation of research groups in all colleges supported by full-time Research Assistants, enhancing graduate programs through Sponsored Graduate Students, providing research release time to faculty, promoting multidisciplinary research through financial grants, supporting collaborative research by providing research travel grants, and recognition of outstanding researchers on annual Research Day.
In January 2018, Dr. Mir was appointed as the Executive Director of Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness. In this capacity, he provides leadership in developing and overseeing assessment and evaluation processes to enhance the effectiveness of academic programs, support services, and administrative operations. He also supports the University management in making evidence-based decisions, effective planning, and efficient utilization of resources.
Dr. Mir is a member of Honor Societies Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Sigma Xi. He is a Senior Member of IEEE (USA) and a Fellow of IEEE (Pak). He has served on editorial boards of scientific journals, delivered invited speeches, and conducted workshops on assessment and accreditation.
Mr. Rabi Alkhofash was appointed as Chief Operating Officer in March, 2017. He is working on developing and implementing effective strategic plans to identify potential operational and business opportunities that aim at providing high-quality supporting services to all members of AU Community.
Mr. Alkhofash has joined Ajman University in 2009 as a Scholarship and Budget Supervisor, and then worked up the hierarchy to Finance Manager (2011), and Senior Finance Manager (2013). He also served as a part-time lecturer of accounting courses in the College of Business Administration. Before joining AU, he served as Senior Management Accountant for 2 years at Juma Al-Majid Establishment in Dubai, UAE (2007 to 2009), in addition to several earlier positions at different organizations in the fields of accounting and finance.
In his capacity as C.O.O, Mr. Alkhofash is leading a team of professionals who collaborate multifunctional knowledge and expertise to provide AU Community with high-quality supporting services in the fields of finance, budgeting, information technology, human resources, procurement, infrastructure/facility management, and medical services.
Mr. Alkhofash has previously served AU throughout a number of successful contributions, including the establishment of an effective planning and budgeting model, provision of support to secure the accreditation/re-accreditation of a number of academic programs, participation in several system implementation projects, development of business plans, feasibility studies, corporate valuations, and other high-end financial and administrative consultancy projects, most of which with the big-4 companies.
Mr. Alkhofash holds a Bachelor of Accounting and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) both from An-Najah National University, Palestine (2002 and 2005 respectively). He also obtained the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) certificate (2011) from the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA, USA) and an online certificate in International Financial Reporting Standards (2011) from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA, UK).
Mr. Alkhofash is passionate about adopting innovative solutions and integrating the smart technology to facilitate the work cycle and maintain the highest level of automated processes and services across different operational aspects of work.