Vice Presidents

Dr. Hassan Alfadala is well-known to Qatar University as he has been very instrumental to its reform and development for more than 20 years, during which he has assumed key role positions and responsibilities.

Qatar University recruited Dr. Alfadala in 1988. After he obtained his M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University-Kingsville in 1994, and his Ph.D. in the same discipline from the University of South Florida in 2001, he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

After his appointment as Department Chair from 2004-2005, he led the qualitative transformation of the department in terms of curriculum review, formation of “International Academic Advisors Committee”, integrating the oil and gas sector in different courses in quest of preparing students for realistic industrial projects and issues. During the said period, Dr. Alfadala had also contributed to QU Reform and Development Initiative.

In 2005, Dr. Alfadala was appointed Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering, and subsequently served as Dean of the College from 2006-2008. During his term, Dr. Alfadala directed and supervised the distinctive development of the College, including review of departments’ curricula, “ABET” accreditation requirements, and introduction of new programs and departments to meet the ever-increasing market demand. Moreover, and during the said period, the College attracted prominent and experienced international faculty to enrich the learning/teaching process and to conduct collaborative research with international institutions, developed relations with industry, and promoted young Qatari talents in the domestic industrial labor market. In 2007, Dr. Alfadala founded and chaired QU Gas Processing Center, which he strategically positioned within the local and international gas industry.

After these landmark achievements in the University, Dr. Alfadala joined Qatari Diar mid 2008 as Deputy CEO/Operations. He took responsibility for all company’s local and international projects. “Qatar Rail” was his first project to oversee from its inception until successfully obtained the approval for this national project.

In 2011, Dr. Alfadala was appointed Managing Director of Qatar Project Management (QPM) for one year.

Dr. Alfadala has taken part in a wide range of conferences, delivered many lectures, and published more than 20 research papers and a book.

Dr. Hassan Alfadala
Contact Information:
E-mail: vpacademic@qu.edu.qa
VPAA website

Dr. Khalid Mohamed Al-Khanji held the position of Vice President for Student Affairs in 2015. Dr. Al-Khanji holds a bachelor’s degree in Education from QU, a master’s degree in Counseling and Human Resource Development from University of Colorado at Denver, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Temple University, as well as an MBA from London Business School.

Dr. Khalid Mohamed Al-Khanji
Contact Information:
E-mail: khalidmf@qu.edu.qa
phone: (+974) 4403-3703

Prof. Mariam Al-Ali Al-Maadeed was the Director of QU Center for Advanced Materials and Founder Coordinator of QU master’s program in Materials Science and Technology. She received a Ph.D. in Physics (Materials Science) from the University of Alexandria, Egypt in 2001, and joined QU Department of Physics in the same year. Prof. Al-Maadeed has a huge experience and international recognition in the field of polymers and characterization, as well as in the field of nanocomposites technologies, and nanotechnology expertise. She published more than 120 research papers in international journals and conferences, in addition to a series of book chapters, books and patents. Prof. Al-Maadeed received many research grants, and she is the lead principal investigator in several projects with a number of universities and institutions around the world. She also worked as a reviewer for many scientific journals and conferences.

Prof Al-Maadeed taught several courses at the graduate and postgraduate level in addition to supervising many graduate dissertations at QU and other international universities. She provided consultancy and presented several workshops for a variety of organizations throughout industry, ministries and society, and chaired several conferences. She is member of distinguished associations in the field of science and administration.

Among the awards she received: the State Prize in Physics (2010), the Plastic Excellence Award from the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (2014), and the Leadership Excellence Award for Women from the Conference and Exhibition of Engineering for the Middle East (2015). She is also a leading member of the Albairaq team, having won the World Innovation Summit for Education Award (WISE) in 2015.

Prof. Mariam Al-Ali Al-Maadeed
Contact information:
E-mail: m.alali@qu.edu.qa

Dr. Egon Toft brings to QU valuable experience in the establishment and leadership of medical colleges. He held the position of Founding Dean of the College of Medicine at Aalborg University from 2010 to 2014 (the newest medical school in Denmark). He was also Associate Dean at the College of Engineering, Science and Medicine at the same university, where he established the Medicine track with Industrial Specialization (2006), Sports Science program (2007), and a Master of Clinical Science and Technology program (2008).

He played a leadership role in Aalborg University Hospital since 1996, most importantly as the Head of the Research School in Health Technology. As Founding Dean, he established a case-based bachelor’s degree program with an integrated curriculum and clinical placements beginning from the first semester, and a case-based, problem-based 3-year master’s degree program.

Dr. Toft is a qualified specialist in cardiology (1994) and also holds a Ph.D. (Dr Med Sci, 1995) from Copenhagen University.

Dr. Egon Toft
Contact Information: 
E-mail: egon.toft@qu.edu.qa

Dr. Darwish Al-Emadi’s career in higher education spans over three decades, spent mostly at QU in a variety of academic leadership positions.

After graduating from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, with a Ph.D. in Linguistics in 1986, Dr. Al-Emadi was appointed Assistant Professor (1986) and subsequently Associate Professor (1992) in the Department of English and Modern European Languages.

During that time, Dr. Al-Emadi also assumed a number of senior academic leadership roles at QU, including Vice Dean (1992–2000) and Dean (1995–2000) of the College of Science and Humanities, and Dean of the Graduate School (2000–2003). It was during his tenure that the first graduate program -- Master in Business Administration (MBA) -- was launched at QU in 2002. In 2008, Dr. Al-Emadi became the founding Director of QU Social and Economic Survey Research Institute, a thriving research center with a mandate to conduct high-quality academic surveys in areas of interest to the Qatari society. In 2014, he assumed the position of Associate Vice President for Research Operations, overseeing the operation of five research centers. In 2015, he was appointed as Acting Vice President for Research at QU.

Beyond QU, Dr. Al-Emadi was the Director of the Education Institute at the then-newly established Supreme Education Council between 2003 and 2004, where his tenure saw the growth of the Education Institute into a 200 employee-strong organization with several departments.

Dr. Al-Emadi’s research interests, publications, and conference presentations reflect his interest in sociolinguistics, and more recently in the area of survey research. He is currently the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the World Values Survey Association, and a member of the scientific advisory committees of the Arab Barometer initiative and the European University Institute.