The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents received widespread attention when it voted in February 2024 to close its Qatar campus. Many viewed it as a decisive stand against foreign influence and national security risks.
But in reality, the “closure” is far less conclusive than advertised.
While the Texas A&M name and standalone branding will be phased out by 2028, the engineering programs, faculty expertise, physical infrastructure, research pipelines, and intellectual property are not disappearing. They are being absorbed and restructured under Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), another institution controlled by the Qatar Foundation located in the same Education City building.
What Texas is calling a shutdown is better described as a handover that preserves Qatari control while removing the visible “A&M” university logo.
As of early 2026, Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) remains fully operational, with approximately 330 undergraduate students and 10 graduate students still enrolled, along with 75 faculty and staff (including 30 Americans). The campus was active enough that it had to shut down classes and follow a U.S. embassy shelter-in-place order when Iran launched missiles near a U.S. military base just 20 miles away in June 2025.
This is not an institution in the final stages of winding down — it is still teaching and functioning in a high-risk environment.
Even more telling is the timeline. In 2021, Texas A&M signed a 10-year contract renewal with the Qatar Foundation, extending operations through June 30, 2033. That agreement explicitly placed research priorities under Qatari direction. The contract stated that “the emphasis of the Research Program shall be on issues of interest to the State of Qatar and the research priorities of Qatar and Qatar Foundation,” and granted the Foundation “high-level governance” over strategic direction, scope, and priorities. Just 26 months later, the board voted to close the campus. Either university leadership deepened a problematic relationship despite known concerns, or they signed a decade-long deal without properly vetting the risks. Neither explanation inspires confidence.
The most significant structural reality is the direct transfer to HBKU. The Qatar Foundation has launched new undergraduate engineering programs at HBKU, physically co-located in the same building currently used by Texas A&M. As TAMUQ winds down, HBKU is ramping up, and the transition is seamless by design. Through cooperative agreements, Texas A&M faculty and staff can teach or support both institutions simultaneously. Faculty moving to HBKU who are still needed for the TAMUQ “teach-out” are being offered adjunct or visiting appointments by Texas A&M itself. In effect, Texas A&M is administratively facilitating the movement of its own people into a Qatar Foundation university.
All labs and facilities in Doha are owned by the Qatar Foundation, not Texas A&M. When faculty transition to HBKU, access to those labs and equipment moves with them. Qatar’s national research funding body (QRDI) continues to support ongoing projects through completion, and transitioned faculty remain eligible for new grants. The talent, the equipment, and the funding relationships are simply shifting from one Qatar Foundation entity to another.
Contracts make clear that intellectual property developed at TAMUQ belongs to the Qatar Foundation. One agreement states: “The Qatar Foundation shall own the entire right, title, and interest in all Technology and Intellectual Property developed at Texas A&M University Qatar or under the auspices of its Research Program.” This includes work in sensitive fields such as chemical, electrical, mechanical, and petroleum engineering — disciplines with direct applications to energy security, weapons systems, drone technology, signals intelligence, and more.
For example, in 2016, Texas A&M University at Qatar signed an agreement with Qatar’s Reconnaissance and Surveillance Center, part of the Ministry of Defense, to collaborate on drone (UAV) technology research, development, and training. Qatari officials specifically sought Texas A&M’s expertise in control systems, drone systems, and software engineering to advance their UAV program for border protection, energy infrastructure security, and military capabilities.
When critics later called for freezing research with national security implications pending full investigation, Texas A&M’s response was to “fulfill research obligations” rather than pause or audit them.
This continuity builds on years of deeper ties. Qatar funneled hundreds of millions into Texas A&M and its affiliates (with estimates reaching $600 million, far above initial disclosures). Research coordination between TAMUQ, main-campus faculty in College Station, and entities like the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) helped shape Qatar’s national research agenda.
Prominent examples show how personnel bridges are maintained. Dr. Hazem Nounou, now Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Electrical Engineering at HBKU, previously served as a senior administrator and professor at TAMUQ after earning his degree from Texas A&M’s main campus. HBKU President Dr. Ahmad M. Hasnah played a central role in establishing TAMUQ and has been deeply involved in the transition of programs and people to HBKU.
The Board of Regents took a necessary first step by voting to end the standalone campus. However, a name change and logo removal do not constitute a full break. The relationships, research outputs, trained engineers, and intellectual property developed with American taxpayer-supported institutions over decades are largely remaining in Qatari hands.
The pipeline from College Station to Doha has not been severed, it has been restructured under Qatari control. Texans must demand more than a cosmetic name change. The university system should pursue a complete withdrawal of funding and personnel, immediately end all research obligations instead of fulfilling them, and ensure that no version of this relationship continues under a new name such as HBKU or any other Qatar Foundation entity.