NYU Abu Dhabi, which welcomed its inaugural class in 2010, was established in partnership with NYU and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and founded upon a shared understanding of the essential roles and challenges of higher education in the 21st century.

Shared principles include:

• a common belief in the value of a liberal arts education;
• concurrence on the benefits a research university brings to the society that sustains it;
• a conviction that interaction with new ideas and people who are different is valuable and necessary;
• and a commitment to educating students who are true citizens of the world.