On the occasion of receiving the honorary Great Barzani Medal, The President of the University of Duhok (UOD) Dr. Dawood Suleiman Atrushi congratulates the founder and first president of UOD
On the occasion of the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) 14th Congress, which was held in the city of Duhok. President Masoud Barzani awarded the Great Barzani Medal of Honour to Dr. Asmat Mohammed khalid, the founder and first president of the University of Duhok (UOD) for his outstanding leadership, on November 4, 2022. In an effort to increase the prosperity in the area, Dr. Asmat Mohammed khalid, a well-known academic from the city of Duhok, presented his proposal for the formation of the University of Duhok in 1992. Since then, UOD has been in the forefront of regional growth and attention.
Dr. Dawood Sulaiman Atrushi, the current president of UOD, called Dr. Asmat Mohammed khalid to congratulate him on this historical occasion.
During the awarding ceremony, President Masoud Barzani made reference to the UOD's past, saying, "30 years have gone, and today the University of Duhok is proudly one of the top universities."
On the occasion of honouring Dr. Asmat Mohammed khalid with the highest award of appreciation, the Great Barzani Medal, Dr. Dawood Suleiman Atrushi, the President of the UOD said, “On behalf of UOD community, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to my brother, Asmat Mohammed khalid, and we express our pride in being a figure like Dr. Asmat, the founder of this outstanding university, who has just being awarded with this high-level of honour. We see this medal awarded to every university employee who worked with him to build, developed, and are still continuing the legacy. Thank you, President Barzani, for honouring the pioneer president of UOD and for your unwavering support for our university.”
The university president added: “We at the University of Duhok will do our best to continue developing the foundation that has been laid for the UOD and move it to new, higher horizons.” UOD is setting out new strategic planing to meet the international standard for quality education in an all-inclusive academic community. UOD is working to promote qualitative improvement in our organisational effectiveness leading to accessible, inclusive and inspiring education opportunities.
The University of Duhok (UOD) is a public university in the city of Duhok, which is about 150 km northwest of Erbil (Arbil, Hewlér), the capital of Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The city is situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by high mountains. The university campus is a large green area in the city's west side that provides an exciting view of the city and surrounding nature. UOD was founded in October 1992 with only two colleges to meet the region's growing demand for graduate professionals. Today, the UOD has a 19-college with 67 departments, nearly, 24000 students, and over 4000 academic and administrative staff. Students thrive in one of the best regional academic communities, studying in programs such as Agriculture, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Architecture, Engineering, Humanities, Linguistics, Basic Education, and Economics as well as Spatial Planning. UOD has strong engagement through its International Relations with many Higher Education institutions and centres of excellence worldwide, such as Purdue University, Indiana University (IU), New York University (NYU), The University of Noter Dame (ND), The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA), BridgeWater State University in the USA, The University of Warsaw - Poland, The University of Glasgow - Scotland, The University of Twente - The Netherland, Leipzig University, LLC University, University of Oldenburg, The University of Vechta, Europa-Universität Flensburg, TU Dortmund university, THM Giessen University in Germany, The University of Tuscia, The university of Pavia, Sapienza Università di Roma in Italy, The University of Deusto, The University of Barcelona, The University of Granada (UGR) in Spain, Lund University - Sweden, The University of Sussex in the UK, Tampere University - Finland, and so many more. The University of Duhok is an active member of the International Association of Universities (IAU), The UNIMED, the Mediterranean Universities Union, and The Association of Arab Universities (AARU).