An honor for SABIC

An honorary Doctorate Degree in Science was recently conferred by the University of Colorado on SABIC Vice Chairman, Mohamed Al-Mady. Al-Mady who graduated from the University of Colorado in 1973 was previously recognized as an influential leader in the energy industry and honored with the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award by the university in 2010.
Universities often choose to honor those high profile personalities who have taken the name of their mother institutions to new heights by excelling in their respective professional fields. I was moved by the speech delivered by Al-Mady. On this occasion, he shared valuable rules of success with the new graduates. He was of the opinion that to build a balanced personality studies and extra-curricular activities were both equally important. These activities may include, for example, reading literature and history books, traveling to new places, learning foreign languages, or interacting with new people. Another important tip he gave to the engineering graduates was that they should become proficient in financial matters. He added that technical expertise alone may not be sufficient to prove one’s worth in this fast moving world, “unless you support the same in financial terms”.
Lastly he said that the essence of his success was courage - courage to move forward and climb up the career ladder while taking risks. Courage is the trump card which helps an individual to take the right decisions.
He proved his point by referring to the progress SABIC has made under his leadership in the last 14 years. It is now the second largest diversified chemical company in the world with 35,000 employees worldwide manufacturing products in 40 countries. Al-Mady’s concluding message to the students was that they should not be dissuaded by difficulties and opposition from any quarter provided they are on the right path. Create your vision and pursue it to achieve your goal.
 Although Al-Mady’s address was for the benefit of recent engineering graduates, we can all learn something from what he had to say.
Masood Khan, Jubail