Prince El Hassan: Honoring Yarmouk’s 50-year journey requires using achievements of the past as a springboard to look ahead to the next 50 years.

Prince El Hassan: Universities' responsibility is not limited to teaching future generations how to use AI, but also to developing their ability to recognize its limitations.

Irbid, Nov. 11 (Petra) -- His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, on Wednesday patronized Yarmouk University's celebration of its Golden Jubilee, held at Al-Kindi Auditorium in the Faculty of Arts and attended remotely via video conference.

In his keynote address, Prince El Hassan said the university's 50th anniversary should not be limited to commemorating the past five decades but should also serve as an opportunity to reflect on its founding experience, look ahead to the future, and ensure that knowledge becomes a tangible means of improving people's lives rather than merely an accumulation of academic degrees and research papers.

He began by recalling 1976, when the university was established with the blessing of the late King Hussein bin Talal. He said the idea behind founding Yarmouk was not simply to add another university to the country's educational landscape but to advance a vision of bringing knowledge closer to people and enabling northern Jordan to participate in shaping its own future.

He also recalled the university's first graduation ceremony in 1980, when he received an honorary doctorate alongside renowned physicist Mohammad Abdus Salam, a Nobel Prize laureate in physics.

Addressing the rapid transformations brought about by artificial intelligence (AI), Prince El Hassan questioned whether the abundance of information necessarily translates into greater human understanding.

He pointed to the growing influence of algorithms on what people read and watch and how they interpret the world around them, highlighting the challenges this poses to shaping human awareness and distinguishing facts from information presented as truth.

He stressed that universities' responsibility extended beyond teaching future generations how to use AI to developing their ability to understand its limitations and distinguish between what machines generate and what humans decide.

This, he said, would ensure that human beings remained responsible for making decisions on how technology is used and directed.

Prince El Hassan stressed that honoring Yarmouk University's 50-year journey required turning its past achievements into a foundation for envisioning the next five decades, during which the university should continue fostering critical thinking, linking scientific research to practical applications, and preparing generations capable of innovation and meaningful contribution.

"The giving human being is our most precious asset," he said.

For his part, Yarmouk University President Malik Al-Shrairi said in his address, delivered in the presence of Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Azmi Mahafzah, that the university's 50-year journey had not been built by an institution alone but by successive generations who believed in its mission and dedicated themselves to advancing it.

He said the university was marking the occasion with deep appreciation for the efforts of the Royal Founding Committee, successive governance councils, and former university presidents, each of whom had contributed to building the institution.

Al-Shrairi outlined the university's 2026-2030 strategic plan, stressing that achieving its vision was a shared responsibility requiring concerted efforts from academic and administrative staff, students, graduates, the local community, national and international institutional partners, and both the public and private sectors.

The future Yarmouk University aspired to build, he said, would not be shaped by plans alone but by determination, hard work, cooperation, and mutual trust.

The celebration also featured the announcement of the establishment of a new Deanship of Future Readiness and Economic Engagement, aimed at strengthening the alignment of university graduates' skills with local and international labor market needs and connecting student projects, innovations, and creative work with practical and productive opportunities.

The university also announced the establishment of the Yarmouk University Endowment to support financial sustainability and diversify its funding sources.

The program included a short film documenting the university's establishment and development, as well as an exhibition showcasing the work of students and academic and administrative staff in art, design, architecture, technology, AI, and robotics.

A Golden Jubilee operetta was also performed, tracing the university's journey from its founding through its development and achievements to its vision for the future. It also highlighted the success story of Yazan Al-Shuneik, a graduate of the Faculty of Information Technology and Computer Science, and his achievements and awards at international, Arab, and national levels.

The operetta's general supervisor, Yara Al-Nimri, said more than 150 students from various university faculties had participated in its production, alongside the Jordan Armed Forces Orchestra.

She added that the performance celebrated the university's cultural diversity, featuring more than 60 international students who presented traditional costumes, folk arts, national flags, songs, and dialects from their respective countries.

The performance concluded with a Golden Jubilee anthem documenting 50 years of the university's contributions and achievements.

The ceremony also honored former Prime Minister Abdul Raouf Al-Rawabdeh, who served as Yarmouk University's first secretary-general, along with former university presidents. They were presented with Golden Jubilee commemorative coins in recognition of their efforts and contributions to the university's five-decade journey.

The Hisham Hijjawi Foundation, the late Samir Shamma, and Malaysia's Pahang Foundation were also honored in recognition of their roles as supporters and partners in advancing the university's academic and research programs and promoting education, scientific research, and innovation.

//Petra// AF