Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) has partnered with global insurance brokerage firm Lockton MENA to launch The Wael Khatib Scholarship programme to inspire future leaders in the insurance industry.

Created to continue the legacy of Wael Khatib, a Bayes alumnus, the Scholarship offers the opportunity for others in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to follow in his footsteps and use academia as a spring board for continued growth.

The Scholarship will cover tuition fees in full, and is open to prospective MENA resident students for the Bayes MSc Insurance and Risk Management degree programme who can demonstrate academic excellence as well as a financial need.

Wael Khatib, who graduated on the MSc Insurance and Risk Management programme himself, always encouraged those around him to do the same from the very beginning of their careers. His family have had a long-standing relationship with Bayes. His two sons, Ata and Faris, and daughter Zainab have all graduated from the Business School since 2008, with his niece Reem also following in the family footsteps in 2020.

Ata Khatib, Chairman of Lockton MENA who graduated from Bayes in 2008, said the Scholarship was a fitting tribute to the interest his late father took in encouraging others to accelerate their careers through the solid foundation of academia early in their careers.

“I believe as passionately as my father in the importance of academic excellence and helping the next generation in achieving it. Along with the awarding of this Scholarship, myself and wider management team are available to those who have been successfully awarded and we are happy to guide and mentor them throughout their career in insurance.”

Dr Simone Krummaker, Senior Lecturer in Insurance and former Course Director for the MSc Insurance and Risk Managementprogramme, said the Scholarship would help Bayes’ drive to widen participation.

“The Wael Khatib Scholarship will allow students to benefit from a degree education that may otherwise have been beyond them financially,” she said.

“The insurance and risk sectors must continually focus on bringing through future generations and talent, and this degree and the support of Lockton will certainly help to do that.”