Fady Jameel is appointed to the Council for the Arts at MIT in recognition of his cultural philanthropy and leadership

• Fady Jameel is President, International of Community Jameel and Founder and Chairman of Art Jameel
• The Jameel family has had a longstanding philanthropic association with MIT for over 25 years
• The Council for the Arts at MIT is a catalyst for arts initiatives across the university

The Council for the Arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (CAMIT) has appointed as a member Fady Jameel, President, International of Community Jameel and Founder and Chairman of Art Jameel. The appointment recognises the unique contribution Fady has made to both MIT and to the arts in general. Founded in 1972, CAMIT aims to act as a catalyst for the development of a broadly based, highly participatory programme in the arts, firmly founded on teaching, practice, and research at MIT, and to conduct arts-related fundraising activities on behalf of MIT.

The ties between MIT and Community Jameel run deep – from the 25-year-old Jameel-Toyota Scholarship to the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the cofounders of which, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, won the Nobel Prize in Economics last year, plus other labs tackling food and water systems, education and machine learning in health. But the arts lie at a key intersection of that relationship.

Most recently, in 2019, the MIT List Visual Arts Center hosted a solo exhibition by Farah Al Qasimi, who had earlier that year exhibited at the Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai; and Nadia Christidi, a PhD candidate at MIT, became the Jameel Arts Centre’s first writer in residence. Fady founded Art Jameel in 2003 with a broad mandate to span heritage preservation through to contemporary art, and to nurture artists and creative communities both locally in the Middle East and globally – through partnerships such as those with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Initially an initiative of Community Jameel, Art Jameel has grown to become an independent organisation based at the Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, and the forthcoming Hayy:Creative Hub, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“Being appointed to the Council for the Arts at MIT is a great honour, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to serve the Institute in its commitment to the arts,” said Fady Jameel, President, International, Community Jameel. “Although known first and foremost for its prowess in science and technology, MIT has an impressive track record in the arts and is filled with creative talent. I am excited to be part of the CAMIT membership and look forward to working with colleagues to develop MIT’s arts scene.”

CAMIT supports students from across the Institute with an annual grants cycle and the Arts Scholars programme, which was endowed by the Council. CAMIT members fund the popular tickets programme, which provides free or subsidised access for MIT students to local arts organisations and performance events, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Annual donations by CAMIT members fund a wide array of programmes and arts events at MIT, including the List Visual Arts Center and the MIT Museum, arts awards, visiting artists, concerts, and performances.