His Excellency Dr Saad bin Saud Al Fuhaid, President of Arabian Gulf University (AGU), has issued a decree promoting Dr Ahmed Mohamed Alabbasi, Associate Professor of Gifted Education in the Department of Special Education at the College of Education, Administrative and Technical Sciences, to the rank of Professor. This promotion recognises his outstanding research, academic, and scientific contributions in the field of gifted and talented education at both regional and international levels.

Dr Alabbasi expressed his gratitude to His Excellency the University President and conveyed his appreciation for the trust and ongoing support provided by the administration to faculty members across all colleges and departments. He also praised the university’s commitment to nurturing an innovative academic environment that encourages scientific research to address key educational issues within the Gulf. “At AGU, we strive to be a distinguished academic and research centre on a global scale, focusing on research topics specific to the GCC region as well as international educational challenges by conducting rigorous scientific research that seeks to develop varied solutions,” he stated.

It is noteworthy that Dr Alabbasi holds a PhD with distinction from the University of Georgia, United States, specialising in Gifted and Creative Education. He is an alumnus of AGU, where he earned his Master’s degree in Gifted Education. Additionally, he holds an executive education degree in Leadership Development from the Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education at Harvard University, as well as another executive education degree in Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation from the Harvard Business School at Harvard University.

Throughout his career, Dr Alabbasi has received numerous prestigious awards. Most recently, he was honoured with the Berlyne Award for Distinguished Researcher from the American Psychological Association, making him the first Arab researcher to receive this award since the its founding in 1892. He also received the Emerging Scholar Award from the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. Other accolades include the Doctoral Student Award in Gifted and Talented Education and the Doctoral Level Completed Research Award from the National Association for Gifted and Talented Children, as well as the second-placing certificate from the American Psychological Association.

Dr Alabbasi’s research interests encompass giftedness, creativity, divergent thinking, creative problem-solving, innovation, and gender differences in creativity. He has authored nearly seventy publications, including research papers in international scientific journals and chapters in edited books. Notably, he contributed four chapters to the third edition of the Encyclopedia of Creativity, a key reference in the field, and has translated several international creativity assessment scales into Arabic.