From left: Dr Eyad Masad, Vice Dean, Texas A and M University at Qatar (TAMUQ); Dr R Seetharaman, CEO, Doha Bank; Dr Joyce Marie Alexander, Dean, Texas A and M University, USA; and Dr Mohammed Yousef Al Mulla, MD and CEO, QAPCO, at the summit. (Pic: Salim
Texas A&M University Qatar opened its three-day International Ethics Summit yesterday at the Hamad bin Khalifa University student center.
Topics discussed included ethical responsibility and risk in an age of globalisation, ethics in research and development, modern humanitarianism, and how institutional structures can shape ethical cultures.
Several presentations consider challenges unique to the Gulf and address the emergence of western education in the region and its effects on society and institutions.
“International Ethics Summit is the tenth event of Texas A&M University. The idea behind this conference was about ‘Ethical Leadership in Industry and Business, the responsibilities and risk in the global era’. We will have discussions with the industry leaders for next two days. 80 participants are taking part in this conference from 35 different institutions, 27 out of 80 participants are from Qatar institutions, 20 countries are here for this conference. The main idea was to go across the academic principles. It’s not a typical academic conference. This conference will become a regular forum next year and we will look forward to the second edition”, Hassan Bashir, Associate Professor of Liberal Arts at TEXAS University and Conference Chair, told The Peninsula.
“It always feels great to have such kind of events here in Qatar. These kind of events help us improve the education system. The stakeholders and finance department experts will share their experiences, which will help us fine-tune our future plans. The topic today is very rich in content, this conference will help us interact with experienced gentlemen and ladies from different parts of the world,” Dr Muhammad Yousef Al Mulla, Managing Director and CEO at Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) told The Peninsula.
Joyce M Alexander, Dean and Professor at Texas A&M University, said: “International Ethics Summit will open doors for conversation and build bridges between different countries and Qatar. I am waiting to witness the bridges we will build in next three days. The similarities I heard between different sectors representatives is fascinating to see how everyone has find way to self-manage. I thought we all have different views but I was wrong we all can relate to each other.”
Dr. Eyad Masad , Vice Dean at Texas University said: “ The diversity in the leaders, Dr. Mulla (Industry Leader), Dr. R. Seetharaman (Finance Department Leader) and Joyce Alexander (Educational Leader) it is interesting to see the similarities and differences between the views as they come from different background and they agreed to many of the consequences. This conference can be summarized as ‘good ethics develop good business’, ultimate you are the winner at the end of all the struggles.”
This summit will bring together leading ethics scholars from around the world to discuss professional and cultural ethics, globalization of higher education and Islamic approaches to modern ethics challenges.
Texas University strives to develop ethical engineers and well-rounded leaders of character who serve the greater good. These Aggie engineers enrich Qatar’s industry and are already playing a key role in the country’s development and progress in achieving the goals put forward in Qatar National Vision 2030.
