Professor Taha Duri, Ph.D., is the Dean of the College of Design at the American University in the Emirates. He is a published author, translator, artist, and educator, having taught at Schools of Architecture, Interior Design, Health Sciences, and the Built Environment, and lectured on History and Theory of Art and Architecture. As an artist, Professor Duri had his own art exhibitions, and participated in others, in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, New York City, and London, in addition to the acquisition of some of his paintings in the permanent collection of the Fischer Fine Arts Library at the University of Pennsylvania.