PESHAWAR: The president of Pakistan has nominated the vice-chancellor Khyber Medical University for Sitara-i-Imtiaz civil award for his outstanding contribution in the fields of education, research and public health.

KMU is honoured to announce that on the recommendation of the prime minister, the president has awarded the civil award to our esteemed Vice-Chancellor and Meritorious Professor of Public Health Dr Ziaul Haq, according to a press release issued here on Wednesday.

Both the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the Higher Education Commission chairman proposed his name for the award due to his unprecedented leadership in the field of higher education, medical research and his services in public health.

At the age of 40, Dr Haq became the youngest VC at KMU in July 2020. Later, his tenure was extended by three more years. He has completely transformed the university into a modern futuristic tech centre, 100 per cent self-sustainable, accessible, research-intensive, and a learning seat of the highest quality.

Dr Haq is currently leading the task force for higher education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a number of provincial and central committees related to medical education and public health.

He is the lead investigator for several significant international research projects. He received a fellowship from the Royal College of Public Health, UK.

Prof Haq remained the KMU director (research) and held the post of the director of the Institute of Public Health and Social Sciences.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2024