The Wharton Entrepreneurship and Family Business Research Centre @ CERT Opens in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, November 1, 2009—The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania opened the Wharton Entrepreneurship and Family Business Research Centre @ CERT with the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training (CERT), a preeminent private education provider in the Middle East.  Wharton faculty will pursue research on entrepreneurship, innovation, family business practices and challenges of the region at this newly established Center.  In addition, the Centre will publish an Arabic language version of Knowledge@Wharton, Wharton’s award-winning online business journal.

HE Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research  and Chancellor of Higher Colleges of Technology said  in his address during the opening of the Centre, “this new and innovative research center, the first of its kind in our region, will forge broad-based collaborative programs among private business, colleges and universities, and federal and local governments, with the goal of strengthening entrepreneurship and family businesses in the UAE and the region.”

“This is a momentous occasion both for CERT and the Wharton School as we embark on a path toward the creation of new knowledge on topics relevant to the Middle East region and the entire world,” said Wharton Dean Thomas S. Robertson. “With the support of our faculty and alumni we are poised to learn much about entrepreneurship, innovation and family business in the Gulf and the broader Middle East region.”

Dr. Tayeb Kamali, Vice Chancellor of the HCT, added, “Both the Wharton School and the HCT are equally committed to knowledge acquisition as well as effective dissemination of knowledge.  The Knowledge@Wharton Arabic edition would be an effective and unique tool to serve this purpose.”

“The opening of this Centre illustrates the strong commitment to entrepreneurship and family business research Wharton and CERT are making,” said Professor Raphael (Raffi) Amit, the Robert B. Goergen Professor of Entrepreneurship and lead faculty member for Wharton’s engagement with CERT.  “The insights we gain will have a broad and lasting impact on business leaders in the Mideast and worldwide.”

The Wharton Entrepreneurship and Family Business Research Centre @ CERT - Abu Dhabi.

Engaging faculty across many disciplines, the centre will pursue a broad array of research projects on innovation, entrepreneurship, and family business issues including managing succession, financing growth, valuation, governance and family office benchmarking among others.

The knowledge created through this partnership will be disseminated through Knowledge@Wharton, Arabic edition, which will be published every other week.  This journal will connect the Middle East with the broader Knowledge@Wharton community of over 1.3 million business professionals worldwide.