Zuhair Fayez was 18 the first time he came to Colorado in pursuit of an educational dream that he could use to benefit his country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After receiving two undergraduate degrees from the University of Colorado-Boulder and his Master's degree from the University of Colorado Denver's College of Architecture and Planning (CAP), Fayez worked as an architect for two firms in Denver and then pursued a doctorate degree before returning to his homeland to successfully build the largest architecture and engineering firm in the Middle East, ZFP, from the ground up. His success and belief in the education he received led him to give back to his alma mater during the years, establishing a yearly scholarship for CAP students, and generously giving more than $1 million to the college.
This week, Fayez returned to CAP to be honored not only for his support of the university but also for establishing an innovative educational partnership between CAP and Dar Al-Hekma, the first private, not-for-profit women's college in Saudi Arabia, of which he was the designer and a major founder and now chairs the Board of Trustees.
The partnership will serve as a building block to develop an undergraduate degree in architecture that will meet the accreditation standards of the United States for the women at Dar Al-Hekma, as well as numerous other collaborative opportunities between the two institutions. Future plans include sending professors from CAP to Saudi Arabia to help establish the program and to serve as guest speakers/professors, while students from Dar Al-Hekma will travel to Denver as exchange students.
"UC Denver's College of Architecture and Planning welcomed Mr. Fayez's vision of an educational exchange between the two universities and the proposal to partner with Dar Al-Hekma College," said Mark Gelernter, PhD, dean of CAP. "Further collaborative opportunities between CAP and Dar Al- Hekma are being explored to serve communities in both countries including urban planning solutions related to sustainability and historic and cultural preservation."
In January 2008, UC Denver Chancellor M. Roy Wilson, Gelernter, and Richard Larson, associate vice president for Development at the CU Foundation, traveled as a group to Saudi Arabia to discuss partnership opportunities with Fayez.
While there, the group met with many representatives from Saudi Arabian universities and colleges to discuss opportunities such as student and faculty exchanges, student competitions and potential forms of partnership and collaboration between UC Denver and Saudi higher education institutions. The group met with His Excellency Dr. Khaled Al-Sultan, the President of King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Dr. Abdullah A. Al-Othman, University Rector (President) of King Saud University in Riyadh, and Dr. Osama S.S. Tayyab, President of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. The group also visited the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
"Saudi Arabia's focus on higher education is opening doors to new educational possibilities and this kind of global partnership allows for unprecedented collaborations for our programs, students, faculty, and researchers," said UC Denver Chancellor M. Roy Wilson, MD. "Collaborations like this one build bridges for cultural understanding and growth."