The leader of Dundee City Council’s administration and a leading figure in the Church of Scotland have been awarded Fellowships of the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies.
Councillor Jill Shimi and Rev Erik Cramb will receive their awards at the Institute Graduation ceremony being held at the Institute in Blackness Road, Dundee today (Thurs Dec 1 2005).
It is the first Graduation held under the auspices of Aberdeen University who now validate the Institute’s qualifications.
Both are currently members of the Al-Maktoum Institute Council and have been since it was founded four years ago.
Councillor Shimi has been the leader of Dundee’s Labour administration since 2003 and led the delegation that represented the city at the first Dubai Sister Cities Forum in May the following year.
In previous years she has held office as secretary and chair of local branches of the Council for the Advancement of Arab British Understanding (CAABU) and the Labour Middle East Council.
She is a regular visitor to Beirut where her husband’s family stay.
Rev. Cramb retired last year after 31 years service to the church. Ordained in 1973 he has been a Minister to congregations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Kingston, Jamaica and again in Glasgow before being appointed as the Scottish Churches Industrial Mission organiser for Tayside. He became national organiser in 1997 a position he held until his retirement last year. A former Moderator of the Dundee Presbytery Rev Cramb is also Director of Dundee City Developments Ltd, the Director of Craigowl Communities, the Director of Ward Road Gym Development Ltd and an independent assessor of public appointments in Scotland. He is also the author of three books, “Parables & Patter,” “Scotland-A struggle on the periphery” and “Fallen to Mediocrity, Called to Excellence.”
Commenting on the appointments, Professor Abd al-Fattah El-Awaisi, Principal of Al-Maktoum Institute said: “We award Fellowships to those we recognise as having made a significant contribution to the development and the furtherance of the mission, aims and objectives of the Institute, their long services to the communities, and for demonstrating their commitment to the multicultural vision that is at the heart of the Al-Maktoum Institute Both Councillor Shimi and Rev Cramb have made distinguished contributions in these areas and we are delighted to welcome them as Fellows of Al-Maktoum Institute.”
