Dr. Rachid Bendriss joined Weill-Cornell Medicine-Qatar as Lecturer of English as a Second Language in 2010 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016. In 2013, he was appointed Assistant Dean for Student Recruitment, Outreach, and Foundation Programs. In this role, he provided transformational leadership, creating an innovative outreach vision to attract underrepresented local student talent to medicine through creative pathway programs and engaged relationship-building. In 2021, Dr. Bendriss was promoted to Associate Dean for Foundation, Student Outreach, and Educational Development to advance educational collaborations with the community. He was also appointed Assistant Professor of Education in Medicine on the Pathway Recognizing Academic Achievement and Scholarship, Educational Leadership area of excellence.

Under his visionary leadership, Dr. Bendriss transformed the Foundation Program into an accredited experiential education program and pioneered innovative outreach programs that yielded a record number of highly motivated Qatari enrolled students. Dr. Bendriss’ international education expertise in program development, education marketing, and outreach strategy led to the establishment of successful capacity-building programs and university readiness solutions as well as strengthened educational collaborations with community stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, local educational institutions, and international university partners.

Dr. Bendriss graduated from the University of Central Florida (UCF) with an MA in TESOL and a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. Prior to joining WCM-Q, he was a faculty member at Valencia College and UCF, where he also served as Assistant Director of the Center for Multilingual Multicultural Studies and the International Services Center at UCF, leading comprehensive internationalization initiatives. Furthermore, Dr. Bendriss served as Faculty Development Specialist at UCF'S Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning where he established programs to internationalize the university’s curricula. As a lifelong learner, Dr. Bendriss earned a second Ph.D. in Higher Education Research, Evaluation, and Enhancement from Lancaster University.

Dr. Bendriss chairs and serves on multiple institutional, national, regional, and international multidisciplinary boards and committees. For instance, he served on the international board of academic editors of the PLOS ONE Journal, the review board of the Institute for Learning in Higher Education, and the editorial board of the World Conference on Qualitative Research. Dr. Bendriss’ research interests focus on higher education enhancement, internationalization of higher education, experiential learning, and educational leadership. He is a member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the International Leadership Association, and the American Educational Research Association.

Dr. Rachid Bendriss is an international education expert who received the prestigious U.S. State Department Fulbright Award of International Education, the distinguished Florida Association of International Education Award, and several WCM-Q’s Excellence in Teaching Awards.