ßËÂþÂþ»­

Ms. Jacqueline Shaw

Executive Chair of the Board

Ms. Jacqueline Shaw is the founder and Executive Chair of the Board of American International University (ßËÂþÂþ»­) in Kuwait. Over the past two decades, Ms. Shaw has become one of the region’s most respected figures in education and institutional leadership—widely recognized for her vision, innovation, and uncompromising commitment to academic excellence.

She began her career in the Gulf in 2003 by establishing a franchise of the Oxford Learning Center in Kuwait. In 2006, she founded the American Baccalaureate School (ABS), a U.S.-accredited Pre-K through Grade 12 institution. ABS quickly rose to prominence under her strategic leadership, preparing generations of Kuwaiti youth for success in top global universities and earning a reputation as one of the nation’s most respected academic institutions.

With a proven track record of founding and elevating successful academic institutions, Ms. Shaw went on to establish American International University (ßËÂþÂþ»­)—an endeavor through which she defined the vision, built the infrastructure, and created the full academic and operational model from inception. As founding CEO from 2017 to 2023, she led every dimension of ßËÂþÂþ»­’s creation—including academic planning, executive hiring, operational systems, financial modeling, IT infrastructure, policy development, recruitment, and brand identity.

More than a technical project, ßËÂþÂþ»­ was a mission of purpose. Ms. Shaw sought to offer Kuwaiti students not just an education, but the dignity of a world-class university experience—one that would rival institutions abroad, while allowing students to remain close to home. From the earliest design stages, she envisioned a campus that would evoke the feeling of studying overseas, complete with lush landscaping, a cascading waterfall centerpiece, and an academic environment defined by excellence and authenticity.

ßËÂþÂþ»­ launched its first semester in Spring 2019 with just 26 students. Today, ßËÂþÂþ»­ enrolls more than 3,000 students and stands as a premier destination for American higher education in the region.

Now serving as Executive Chair of the Board of Trustees, Ms. Shaw continues to guide ßËÂþÂþ»­’s long-term strategy, championing its mission to deliver authentic, values-driven education grounded in academic excellence, operational integrity, and a deep respect for student potential.

Ms. Shaw holds an MBA from Arizona State University, an MIM from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and a BA in Business Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle.