Planned NYU Campus in Abu Dhabi to Be Headed by Female Art Historian

NEW YORK—New York University is planning to open a branch in Abu Dhabi that will be headed by European art scholar Mariet Westermann, currently the director of the university’s Institute of Fine Arts, reports the New York Times.

Details have not yet been released for the new endeavor, which the university is expected to announce next month. NYU officials told the Times that the campus will be paid for by the Abu Dhabi government and will operate with American values, with “no discrimination on the basis of national origin, race, sex, or religion.”

One unnamed NYU faculty member told the Times of Westermann, a Dutch-born specialist in northern European art, “She’s a brilliant scholar, an impressive, polished person, and she’s a woman, which makes a statement.”