Arlie O. Petters was appointed provost of the Abu Dhabi campus of New York University in the United Arab Emirates. He will begin his new duties on September 1.
In explaining his decision to become provost of the NYU Abu Dhabi campus, Dr. Petters said that “within a ten-year span, NYU Abu Dhabi has developed a world-class, innovative liberal arts and sciences undergraduate program and premier interdisciplinary research environment. It has created a collaborative culture of global citizenry among its excellent students, faculty, and staff. It has fostered diversity, inclusion, cultural competency, empathy, and openness. It has become a university in and of the city of Abu Dhabi. This gravitational pull of NYUAD was simply irresistible.”
Dr. Petters has been serving as Benjamin Powell Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He is the former dean of academic affairs for the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke. He also served as associate vice provost for undergraduate education at Duke. Before joining the Duke University faculty in 1998, Dr. Petters served as an assistant professor of mathematics at Princeton University and as an instructor of pure mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Professor Petters’ principal research interests include mathematical physics and scientific methods in business administration, with a focus on mathematical finance and entrepreneurship and innovation in STEM fields in developing nations.
A native of Belize, Dr. Petters earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics and physics from Hunter College of the City University of New York. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT.
