The idea for the American University of Afghanistan began in 2002 with Dr.
Sharif Fayez, then
Afghan Minister of Higher Education. At this time he proposed the creation of Afghanistan's first-ever private university. The following year in an address before
UNESCO, then U.S. First Lady
Laura Bush announced her support of educational initiatives in Afghanistan. The U.S. Ambassador
Zalmay Khalilzad, likely inspired from his own experience at the
American University of Beirut, encouraged the establishment of the American University of Afghanistan. The Afghanistan High Commission for Private Investment offered leases on two parcels of land totaling in the
Darulaman area of Kabul until 2013. In addition, the American University of Afghanistan corporation was chartered in the State of
Delaware, under the leadership of Dr. Jacob van Lutsenburg Maas, who later became the non-profit corporation's president, to receive these leases. In 2007, the non-profit corporation became a tax-exempt
501(c)(3) organization. . A charter for the establishment of the American University of Afghanistan was granted on July 26, 2004, by the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education, under Article 46, Chapter 2 of the new
Afghan Constitution and Article 445 of the Civil Code. A feasibility study was initiated by the Coordinating Council of International Universities, based in the United States, to recommend an institutional framework. In December 2004, the inaugural meeting of the Board of Trustees convened in
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates, where Dr. Fayez was elected President
pro tempore, serving in this capacity until April 2007, when he was named "founder" by the new president. He continued to lobby the Afghan government on the university's behalf, served as an adviser to the current president, and maintained an office on campus until his death in 2019. In March 2005, then U.S. First Lady (and former teacher) Laura Bush visited the site and announced a substantial grant from the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to launch the institution. The first students of the American University of Afghanistan enrolled in March 2006. They began with classes to improve their English language and study skills. By September of that year, the university began offering its first credit-bearing undergraduate courses. The Professional Development Institute was also launched in the same year, providing adult professional courses and adult professional level programs. On June 8, 2008, Mrs. Bush announced an additional $40 million (USD) in funding for the subsequent five years. Funding will cover more than half of the university's operating expenses during that period, leaving the university to pursue private funding for the remainder of its operating expenses and for the development of its new campus. The university held its first commencement ceremony in May 2011, awarding undergraduate degrees to 32 graduates. It held its fourth, and largest, graduation in December 2014, where 180 undergraduate and graduate students graduated. In May 2015, the university held its sixth commencement ceremony, honoring the class of 2015, at the university's International campus. The highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of the Doctorate of Humane Letters Honorary Degree to distinguished guest, former Afghan President
Hamid Karzai, who also delivered the commencement address. In 2019, more than 1,700 full and part-time students from all 34
provinces of Afghanistan are enrolled in the university, including 1,190 students in undergraduate and graduate program, and 950 students in certification courses. In an interview with Film Annex, Dr. C. Michael Smith, former President of the American University of Afghanistan stated that for the 2012–13 school year over 50% of the entering students were women.
2014 Taliban attack Two employees were killed as a result of a Taliban gun and bomb attack on a restaurant in Kabul where the employees were dining in January 2014. Some 21 people reportedly died in the attack.
2016 August 7 An American and Australian professor were kidnapped on 7 August 2016, by criminals dressed in
Afghan National Police uniforms. A team of
U.S. Special Forces attempted to rescue them but failed. They were released 3 years later, in November 2019, in an exchange for three Taliban prisoners.
August 24 On the evening of August 24, 2016, three gunmen opened fire and detonated explosives on campus killing seven university students, one policeman, three security guards at the university, one university professor, and a guard from a neighboring school. Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of the Criminal Investigation Department of Kabul Police, said that they were able to kill the attackers. No group claimed responsibility.
2021 With the
withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2020–2021),
Peter Bergen reported that thousands of university-educated students were hoping to flee Afghanistan, but were unable to. Eventually many were studying in Qatar, at the
American University of Central Asia in
Bishkek,
Kyrgyzstan, and at
Bard College in New York, among other locations. ==Programs==