ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Baghdad has selected Al Faw Palace as the location for the American University of Iraq - Baghdad (AUIB), a facility originally built by Saddam Hussein, then used by the US-led coalition as a camp following the invasion.
Ali Razzouqi Hussein, a director for private education in Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, announced that Baghdad received official approval for the location of the campus at Al Faw, which is also called the Water Palace.
According to job postings by the university, it will open in September 2018.
"A city within a city, AUIB will provide a unique and comprehensive experience to our students and staff, not only in education but also campus living. We are proud to have this amazing location, self-contained campus which provides a wide range of facilities and services that caters to the university community as a whole," the university self-described.
With renovations underway, the facilities will first house a College of Law, College of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Business.
The complex is about 5 kilometers from the Green Zone.
Some of Saddam's palaces were destroyed during the US-led invasion in 2003, while others like Al Faw were spared and have been used by the coalition.
In March 2017, US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman and Iraq's Higher Education Minister Abdul Razzaq Abdul Jalel al-Essa agreed to take steps to open an American university in the capital.
There are two American universities in the Kurdistan Region: the American University of Iraq - Sulaimani (AUIS) and the American University of Kurdistan - Duhok (AUK). They were established in 2007 and 2014, respectively.
Micheal Mulnix will be the first president. He also was the first president at AUK. He holds a doctorate from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame.
He met with Essa in February in Baghdad, where they discussed fields of study to be offered, foreign administration, educational staff, and other requirements, according to a statement from the higher education ministry.
AUIB is meant to be "a world-class institution of higher learning established in the city, reminiscent of the days when Baghdad was an educational mecca and the flourishing capital of the Muslim world," according to the university.
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