Chair of the Geography & Urban Planning Dept - (CHSS)  

Many people talk about mapping out their career. For Dr Naeema Al Hosani, that takes on a more literal meaning.

An established cartography scholar, she is an expert in the science or practice of drawing maps, and now brings that knowledge to UAEU students as Chair of its Department of Geography and Urban Planning. But her role within the university – and within UAE life – has a much wider compass.

With her areas of research interest including cartography, geographic information systems, remote sensing, the environment, tourism, and education, Dr Al Hosani – who is also Assistant Dean for Student Affairs within UAEU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences – initially joined the Al Ain university as an Assistant Professor, having completed her MA and Ph.D. at the University of Kansas.

Since arriving at UAEU, she has been heavily involved in scholarship, teaching, and service, in addition to holding senior administrative positions at departmental, collegial, and university level, including chairing and being a member of numerous committees.

Her professional life has two aspects. On the research side, she has a high-caliber publications record – as a single author and a co-author – with her work being published in top-ranking Western academic journals and her experience and insight seeing her make presentations at domestic, regional, and international conferences.

Dr Al Hosani participated in the transfer of groundbreaking Western research to an Arab audience by translating significant, globally-important books in her area of specialization. The outstanding nature of her research has led to her winning many grants and being awarded prominent accolades, including the UAEU Award for Distinction in Research, as well as being honored by the UAEU Provost for her publication record.

In the teaching field, Dr Al Hosani has carved a reputation for reliability, resourcefulness, and dynamism, as an excellent planner and organizer, and for her dedication to creating a vibrant learning environment. Her approach is based on interactive teaching strategies, inquiry-based learning, nurturing students’ individual passions and curiosity, and integrating IT into the educational process.

Describing her role in the classroom as being “a facilitator and guide in a challenging adventure designed to foster collaboration, discourse and discovery”, she has played a pivotal part in curriculum development and learning outcomes assessments at UAEU. Her academic work recently led to her receiving the UAEU Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2017, and the Prestigious Khalifa Award for distinction in teaching, recognition that follows many other awards from international organizations.

Dr Al Hosanis stature and expertise has seen her make a valuable impact to enriching knowledge and opportunity across UAE society. She has participated in an array of events and seminars dealing with pedagogical issues, within UAEU and in the wider community, and served as mediator between the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and a number of UAE companies and institutions to provide training openings for UAEU students. 

Her impressive community service record includes cooperation with local universities and government bodies, such as the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior. And she has established many cooperation initiatives aimed at strengthening connections between UAEU's academic community and wider UAE society, by establishing avenues of dialogue, outreach, and knowledge exchange.

Away from the UAEU, Dr Al Hosani has many hobbies and enjoys spending her downtime reading novels and discovering new recipes to cook in her kitchen.