The Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar held its annual awards ceremony on Wednesday evening to celebrate the academic and personal excellence of its students.

The ceremony was also an opportunity for donors to meet the recipients of their scholarships and for VCUQatar to acknowledge those who have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of art and design in the country.

A gathering of students, staff, faculty, family members and friends congratulated the recipients as they received their certificates and gifts.

Donors this year included Abdullah Abdulghani and Brothers Company, the Education City Central Library, the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club, Q-Media and Sarah and Sumai Abdulghani.

Dean Allyson Vanstone thanked Qatar Foundation and the donors for continuously demonstrating proactive leadership in advancing design thinking.

She also recognised the Higher Education Institute for their continuous support of VCUQatar's Qatari students.

Qatar Foundation's assistant vice president for Education, Faculty and Student Services, Dr Dennis Roberts, elucidated the relationship between Qatar Foundation and VCU Richmond and VCUQatar.

"Doha has joined the ranks of the great cities of the world with its legacy of architecture, people and wonderful new buildings," he said.

During the ceremony, the 63 freshmen students representing VCUQatar's largest incoming BFA class were honoured, as were the 47 rising sophomores who succeeded in a rigorous and competitive foundation programme to be accepted into the Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Interior Design or Painting and Printmaking major of their choice.

A total of 22 students on the Honours programme and the five winners of international internships were also recognised during the evening.

Assistant dean for Student Affairs Valerie Jeremijenko also congratulated other VCUQatar students who pursued regional and international internships.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the scholarships and awards to 20 students including two full four-year Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad Scholarships for Creativity to study at VCUQatar presented to Marianne Janeen Bermejo and Natasha Larasati Bahri and another full VCUQatar International Student MFA Scholarship awarded to Robert Canak for being the best qualified international student applicant for the MFA programme.