Qatar Campus Faculty Receive VCU National/International Recognition Award (NIRA)

Two faculty members from VCUarts Qatar, Maryam Al-Homaid, M.F.A, Assistant Professor, Department of Graphic Design, and Jörg Matthias Determann, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Liberal Arts & Sciences, were recently recognized by our home campus, Virginia Commonwealth University, with the National/International Recognition Award (NIRA) for 2024.

The NIRA is one way that the home campus in Richmond shows appreciation to professors who demonstrate excellence in their academic discipline, elevating not only their own profile but that of the entire university.

Each year, faculty from the various Schools of VCU are selected for the Award. These faculty members are usually nationally or internationally recognized for their exceptional accomplishments during their current evaluation period, performing at the top of their academic unit, and are recommended by the deans of their affiliated schools.

Jörg Matthias Determann, Ph.D., specializes in history with an emphasis on the history of science and technology within the context of the Middle East. A prolific researcher and writer, Determann has published numerous books on science and technology, such as “Historiography in Saudi Arabia”, “Researching Biology and Evolution in the Gulf States”, “Space Science and the Arab World”, “Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life”, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Astronomy”, and “Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life”. His work has been supported by various organizations including Qatar Foundation, The Gerda Henkel Foundation (Germany), the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, the Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah Foundation (Kuwait), and the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (UK).

Maryam Al-Homaid is an interdisciplinary designer holding a BFA in Graphic Design and an MFA in Design from VCUarts Qatar. Her father is a fine artist, and both grandfathers were makers and craftsmen. As the first appointed junior faculty at VCUarts Qatar, she is committed to transferring her curiosity and passion for making and prototyping to her students as she strongly believes in “learning through doing”. Al-Homaid earned spots in AD100’s list for top designers across the Middle East and North Africa both in 2024 and 2025. She won the gold prize for the 2024 Asia Design Prize and was a finalist for the 2024 Design Doha Prize.

The NIRA was created in partnership with Dr. Marlon Levy, VCU’s Senior Vice President for Health Sciences.