Northwestern University in Qatar Dean and CEO Everette Dennis will step down in 2020, Provost Jonathan Holloway announced Thursday.

Dennis has been the dean since June 2011, with the first class at NU-Q graduating in 2012. Under his leadership, NU-Q hit record enrollment and developed research important to Qatar and the region.

“I am proud to have guided NU-Q into a stunning new building, expand our research and lead this unique, one-of-a-kind school at a time when we are preparing our students to enter the 21st-century media economy,” Dennis said in a news release. “We have made a real difference in shaping the influence of Education City, the changes in Arab society and the lives of Qataris and international students alike.”

While at NU-Q, Dennis managed the transition of the school into the new media and communications building, considered one of the largest of such facilities in the world, the release said. This was one aspect of his several outreach initiatives to create a regional reputation for NU-Q.

Although Dennis is leaving NU-Q, he is not leaving the Northwestern community. He will be on leave during the 2020-2021 academic year before returning as a tenured faculty member of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

“Dean Dennis has sharpened the focus on educating students in a rapidly changing global media environment and helped NU-Q foster research in the Arab media world with far-reaching effects,” University President Morton Schapiro said in the release. “We are grateful for his leadership, which has helped NU-Q grow impressively and substantially in reach and impact. We wish him well on the road ahead.”

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