CAIRO: Dominican Republic president Dr. Leonel Fernandez visited the American University in Cairo s New Campus last week. Fernandez, constitutional president from 1996 to 2000 and again in 2004-2008, met with AUC students, professors, and administrators. In a round table discussion, the president discussed the globalization of education, the importance of science and technology, and potential collaborations between Dominican universities and AUC. "This is a private visit that was requested by His Excellency the President, Ali Hadi, Vice-Provost of AUC, said in a press release. Being an intellectual himself and an academic, he was interested in meeting the academics of AUC, and as a politician, who is interested in the Middle East, he chose AUC for its strong emphasis on Middle Eastern Studies. According to President Fernandez, the meeting served as a means for increasing awareness of Egyptian and Dominican cultures. The Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, chaired by the president himself, currently offers scholarships enabling Dominican students to study abroad in France, Mexico, South America, South Korea and Japan. In a meeting with AUC professors and administrators, the president outlined plans to increase the number of students sent abroad. We would like to support our students to come here to study subjects such as Arabic, Middle East studies, history and architecture, Fernandez was quoted as saying in a press release issued by AUC. -Daily News Egypt
