PRESS RELEASE

AMIDEAST President and CEO Visits Oman

Muscat (May 12, 2012) – American education organization AMIDEAST announced today that its president and CEO, Ambassador Theodore H. Kattouf, is visiting Muscat this week. During his four-day visit, he will sign the renewal of the organization’s Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education and participate in a variety of meetings focused on AMIDEAST’s workforce development and entrepreneurship training programs.

“AMIDEAST is honored to have been invited by the Omani government to open an office here in 2007, establishing itself as the first international nongovernmental, nonprofit organization in the Sultanate,” said Ambassador Kattouf. “Since opening our doors, we have served thousands of Omanis through services ranging from English language courses to scholarship administration. We look forward to broadening our outreach and our impact as we seek to expand opportunity through education and training.”

An alumnus of Pennsylvania State University, Ambassador Kattouf’s 30-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service included postings to Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia as well as service as U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (1998-2001) and Syria (2001-03). Since his retirement from government service in 2003, he has been president and CEO of AMIDEAST, overseeing a tripling of the size of this leading provider of training, educational exchange, and development services in the Middle East and North Africa, and a quadrupling of its endowment. In April, Ambassador Kattouf was awarded The Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service. Named for the late father of Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, the honor is bestowed each year on an Arab American who has excelled in public service and conducted his or her public life with a strong and visible pride of ethnic heritage.

Founded in 1951, AMIDEAST (www.amideast.org) is an American nonprofit organization engaged in international education, training, and development assistance. With over 20 field and project offices in the Middle East and North Africa and more than 650 dedicated professional staff, AMIDEAST provides programs and services to improve educational opportunity and quality, strengthen local institutions, and develop language and professional skills for success in the global economy. AMIDEAST is deeply committed to strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation between Americans and the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa.

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For more information, please contact AMIDEAST/Oman at +968-2456-1727 or oman@amideast.org