Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha
President, Aga Khan University, Pakistan
Educated
at the South Bank and Westminster Universities
in the UK, and the University of Minnesota, USA,
Kassim-Lakha’s career has spanned industrial
development and higher education. As President and
Founding Trustee of Aga Khan University in Pakistan,
East Africa, Afghanistan and the UK, Kassim-Lakha
has served on the boards of several governmental,
professional, and research organizations including
the Pakistan Medical Research Council and on numerous
governmental advisory panels in the areas of finance,
environmental protection, energy, health and education.
He co-chaired
the commission for the establishment of University
of Central Asia and was appointed Co-Chair of the
Task Force for Improvement of Higher Education in
Pakistan by the Government of Pakistan and subsequently
served as Chairman of the Steering Committee on
Higher Education, with the status of Minister of
State.
In recognition
of his services to higher education, health care,
and public service, he has received national and
international awards from the governments of Pakistan
and France as well as the degree of Doctor of Laws,
honoris causa from McMaster University of Canada
(1984), the Sitara-e-Imtiaz from President of Pakistan
(1999), the award of Officer in the French National
Order of Merit from French President Jacques Chirac
(2001), and the award of Hilal-e-Imtiaz from the
President of Pakistan (2002) for public service.
