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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May-June 2008, page 77 Diplomatic Doings Sheikh Suhaim Bin Hamad Al Thani Fellowship Established at Harvard
AT A FEB. 19 signing ceremony at the Harvard Faculty Club library in Cambridge, MA, Qatar’s Sheikh Sultan Bin Suhaim Al Thani and his mother, Sheikha Mona J. Al Dossarey, gave a $2 million gift to Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government to establish a fellowship fund. The fellowships, donated in honor of Sheikh Sultan’s late father, Sheikh Suhaim Bin Hamad Al Thani, will enable students from poor countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia to participate in the Kennedy School’s executive leadership training program. “The essence of the Kennedy School has always been an abiding commitment to training skilled, enlightened leaders, and this generous gift will allow us to further our mission of public service in countries across the globe,” Harvard Kennedy School Dean David T. Ellwood told reporters at the ceremony. Sheikh Sultan then visited Washington, DC, where he met with community leaders and journalists, including Washington Report publisher Ambassador Andrew Killgore, at the Four Seasons Hotel on Feb. 21. As U.S. ambassador to Qatar from 1977 to 1980, Killgore knew Sheikh Suhaim, who was Qatar’s first foreign minister after its independence and was instrumental in getting Qatar into the U.N. “Sheikh Suhaim was the most handsome man I ever met,” Killgore said. “I enjoyed exchanging ideas with him. He had a long list of accomplishments and deserves a fitting tribute.” The former ambassador and others described Sheikh Suhaim as a visionary who helped shape modern-day Qatar. His son, Doha businessman and poet Sheikh Sultan, said, “I hope to continue my father’s legacy. We will help talented leaders from poor countries meet their potential. “It is incumbent on us to be involved in development in this changing world,” Sheikh Sultan told reporters. “Qatar supports advancements in education and media in the Middle East. It is very important to foster friendships and relationships in these turbulent times.” Harvard has been less gracious in receiving gifts from other Middle Eastern countries. In 2004, it returned a $2.5 million gift from United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan after the school decided that a think-tank funded by Zayed promoted an anti-Semitic agenda. The university did accept in 2005 a $20 million donation from Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, whose post-9/11 pledge of $10 million was rejected by New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. —Delinda C. Hanley |
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