The American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) received a delegation of the United States’ embassy in Baghdad, headed by Ambassador Steven Fagin, in his capacity as Charge d’Affaires at the embassy. AUIB President, Dr. Bradley Cook, and senior members of AUIB’s administrative and academic cadre welcomed the visiting delegation to campus and engaged them in a friendly discussion on the young university’s development, focusing on programs and initiatives supported by grants from the U.S. Department of State. President Cook and Ambassador Fagin signed a Memorandum of Understanding serving to renew the partnership between the two parties on the American Space program at AUIB.
“I’m incredibly impressed with what I have seen” here at AUIB, remarked Ambassador Fagin after a tour of campus, recalling the “very high hopes we had for this university” at the time of its establishment, and commending the rapid growth it has achieved since, “bringing American-style education and American standards to the Iraqi higher education system, and providing opportunities for students to get this world-class education and have the skills needed to get good jobs.”
He continued: “We have one of the largest of American Spaces in the world right here at AUIB, and I understand that this year alone, over six thousand people have visited this American Space to know more about the United States, to help develop their English skills, and to help enrich themselves culturally. So, this is an incredible part of what we are doing in Iraq to connect the United States to Iraqis.”
Ambassador Fagin saw that higher education in Iraq has “obviously made huge progress in the last two decades, and I believe that (AUIB) is standing at the very pinnacle, and we’re looking forward to seeing this institution expand its student base and its partnerships with American universities and with other universities in Europe and beyond, (and also) with international institutions in the Unites States and beyond.”