We had the big inaugural ceremony tonight for Northwestern University in Qatar. It was a very good night. A lot of the higher ups talked about the partnership between NU and the Qatar Foundation. Seems like a really good fit from both sides. Seems like everyone, especially the students, win on this one. There were also videos of the students that talked about why they chose NU-Q and why they like it so far. Her Highness Sheikha Moza was there for the ceremony. She is the one who started Qatar Foundation, and seems to be leading the country in a very steady path toward a brighter future. I like that they take a long view of investing here. The full payoff of bringing in good universities can take years to come to fruition, but they are confident in their investments.

There was also a great dinner catered by the Ritz. Started with lobster. I am not much of a shell fish type, but it was pretty good. Then they moved onto lamb with potatoes. Dessert was a delicious chocolate cake thing. Mmmm. Some students from Evanston did some musical theater numbers to finish it up.

After dinner, I got a chance to talk with some of the staff and students. Seems like everyone had a good time.

Getting home was a little adventure. I went upstairs to pick up my laptop and wound up leaving my keycard in my office. The problem is that you need the card to get out of the parking lot. I had to follow close behind a co-worker to get out of the gate in order to get out. I’ll have to figure something our tomorrow to get back in.