KARACHI: Sulaiman Shahabuddin has joined the Aga Khan University as its president, said a statement on Wednesday.

“Today, the Aga Khan University welcomed into office president Sulaiman Shahabuddin, the university’s third president since its founding in 1983,” it said. “President Shahabuddin leads an institution that has 3,200 students on three continents, cares for 2 million patients in a typical year and has recently been ranked among the world’s top 100 universities in several fields thanks to its research prowess. He succeeds Firoz Rasul, who has retired after leading AKU to new heights during the 15 years he served as president.”

Mr Shahabuddin, it said, was uniquely well prepared to lead AKU. He is an accomplished healthcare leader who previously served as regional CEO of the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) in East Africa, which cares for more than 1 million patients annually.

“During his tenure, AKHS hospitals and health centres attracted almost $150 million in external funding, underwent substantial growth, were accredited by international organisations and expanded access for low-income patients,” it said. “President Shahabuddin knows the university well: he joined AKU in Karachi in 1986, spent the first 15 years of his career at the university and has worked closely with its deans to launch new nursing and medical degree programmes.”

“Today is the proudest moment of my career,” the statement quoted Mr Shahabuddin as saying. “AKU’s excellence in education, research and healthcare delivery, public-service ethos and ability to bring people together across boundaries of all kinds make it unlike any other university in the world. In returning to AKU, I feel that I am coming home.”

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2021