AUIB graduates its first class at the Al-Faw Palace

BAGHDAD — The American University of Iraq – Baghdad held its first commencement on Saturday, May 24, 2025, graduating its first cohort about four years after the university opened its doors.

The ceremony took place outdoors in front of the Al-Faw Palace, the former presidential palace that houses the campus. Graduates, their families, faculty and staff were joined by government officials, diplomats, military officers, social figures and business leaders. Thirty-eight students graduated, according to published accounts of the ceremony.

Saadi Waheeb Saihood, whom the university calls its Founding Father, described the day as "a culmination of a dream long awaited; a dream not solely of mine personally or my family, but a national project that I had believed in and sought to achieve." Graduation, he told the class, was "a beginning of a new chapter," not the end of their ties to the university. He announced a forum for AUIB alumni and the completion of a bronze statue of Dr. Michael Mulnix by the Iraqi artist Nidaa' Kadhim, to be placed on campus.

Dr. Mulnix, the university's founding president, said that "all of our graduates found good jobs before they graduated." He announced that he would move from the presidency to become Chairman of the Board of Trustees and President Emeritus, and that his wife, Dr. Esther Mulnix, a professor of psychology, would be named Professor Emerita.

The new president, Dr. Bradley Cook, who had just left the presidency of the American University of Bahrain, gave his first address at AUIB. "Today is a day of pride, joy, and promise," he said, and spoke of "a future of peace, prosperity, and renewal—because I believe in you."

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Waraq's News Desk compiled this report in October 2026 from the sources below, with the help of an AI writing tool.

Sources

• AUIB: AUIB Holds its First Commencement Ceremony (May 24, 2025)
• Wikipedia: American University of Iraq – Baghdad