Journeys to democracy

Update to the news below: Professor Asad Abidi Named the Inaugural Holder of the Abdus Salam Chair at LUMS, (Jan. 2017)

Exciting news from Adil Najam, Vice Chancellor of LUMS – for those who don’t know him, Dr. Adil Najam was the Frederick S. Pardee Professor of Global Public Policy at Boston University and served as a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), work for which the IPCC was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore. He left BU (where his office had the most gorgeous view overlooking the Charles River) to head the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Adil Najam
Date: Sat, Mar 3, 2012 at 4:07 PM
Subject: A request… Help realize a dream!

Dear Friends

Having now been back in Pakistan more than half a year I write to you today with a special request.

I had planned to add an update but these last months have been so amazingly full as well as absolutely fulfilling that I cannot do justice to them in an email. I will await our next meeting to do so in full detail! At the personal front, the family is well and enjoying Lahore in all its glory. Professionally, the intellectual vibrance and excitement of LUMS keeps me constantly engaged and enthused. To give you just a glimpse of the what keeps me excited:

– The University’s social engagement and purpose is infectious; 40% of our students are on financial aid from LUMS (more than Rs. 250M this year only), and our students continue to break national and international barriers;
– Late last year we started a new undergraduate major in history;
– We followed this up by introducing a new Weekend EMBA option;
– Our new School of Science and Engineering is ready to graduate its first full class and our students are already amassing achievements;
– We just announced our 2012 Commencement Speaker – Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Pakistan’s first Oscar winner!

But today I write to request your help and support for a very specific initiative.

I am proud to announce that The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has formally launched a campaign to create an Abdus Salam Chair at LUMS to honour one of Pakistan’s first Nobel Award winner, and one of our greatest scholar. Once funded, the Abdus Salam Chair will be a University-wide honor to be held by a Professor of international repute and distinction in any academic discipline who has already made major international contributions to his or her field of study. In establishing this Chair my hope is that we will be able to attract other Abdus Salams back to Pakistan and it will help create a new generations of Abdus Salams right here at LUMS.

Dr. Abdus Salam was the first Pakistani to receive the Nobel Award (in Physics) and he is widely considered to be not only one of the great physicists of the last century but also a builder of research institutions – including the establishment of the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, and also the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979, for his theoretical unification of the two fundamental forces of nature. A year before his Nobel Prize, he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of London.

I am happy to say that we have already been receiving general and wide-spread support and have been able to raise about half the Rs. 85,000,000 goal for the Abdus Salam Chair. I would be delighted if we could announce having reached the full goal by June when we have our 24th Annual Convocation Ceremony. Details of the Abdus Salam Chair fundraising campaign here.

I am writing to you in the hope that you will be able to assist me and LUMS in this cause. You can do so in at least two ways:

1. For those of you who are in a position to do so, please contribute to the Abdus Salam Chair in whatever amount you can. It is as important to get a large number of individuals donating as it is to reach the required amount. Details on how to donate are available here (including how to give online via credit card, or give in USA and Canada with tax benefits).

2. Please spread the word to others in your circles of influence about this initiative and encourage them to contribute if they can. We want to not only reach our goal but to have as many people contribute to reaching that goal as possible.

I do hope that you will be able to join me in this good cause and contribute in whatever way you can. I am convinced that this will make a real difference in many deep and lasting ways.

Regards,

Adil Najam
Vice Chancellor, LUMS

Filed under: Education | Tagged: #PakPositive, Adil Najam, Education, Lahore, LUMS, Nobel prize, Pakistan, Sharmeen Obaid Oscar |