Dr. Arshad Ahmad.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Academy of International Business (AIB), the premier global organisation of international business and management scholars, has named Vice Chancellor of Pakistan’s Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Dr Arshad Ahmad, the AIB International Educator of the Year for 2022.

Dr Ahmad will be inducted into the AIB Fellowship on July 8, 2022, at AIB’s annual international conference in Miami, USA. Established in 1959, AIB’s membership spans more than 70 countries worldwide. AIB fosters excellence in education by advancing the highest professional standards in international business and management.   

Dr Ahmad is the first recipient from a South Asian university to receive this prestigious award. He joins eminent colleagues from Europe, North and South America, Australia, and China who have previously received this high distinction.   

These high-impact centres collaborate with industry and government to offer practical solutions to some of the grand challenges facing Pakistan and the region. For example, Pakistan’s Electric Vehicle Policy was designed at the LUMS Energy Institute and adopted by the federal government. Based on the policy, the government will save $2 billion annually in the power sector for the next 10 years.

Similar innovations in smart agriculture, digital heritage preservation, and child protection services are effectively changing people’s lives.    Since joining LUMS in 2018, Dr Ahmad has strengthened the University’s unique mission of ‘Learning without Borders’ which aspires to transcend academic, geographic, and socio-economic boundaries.

LUMS provides an ‘academic haven’ for bright, young students from across Pakistan’s diverse landscape. Dr Lorraine Eden, Dean of the AIB Fellows, congratulated Dr Ahmad for his contribution ‘to enhancing transdisciplinary, global learning and education among students, scholars, managers, and leaders worldwide’. Thanking AIB, Dr Ahmad said, "This Award is a tribute to 35 years of excellence at LUMS and its relentless commitment to innovation and the transformation of education through inclusive, global learning networks.”

Syed Babar Ali, the founding Pro Chancellor of LUMS, and a staunch advocate for building a better Pakistan expressed his delight, "Heartiest congratulations on the AIB Award that brings honour to Dr. Arshad Ahmad, to LUMS and to Pakistan. May his leadership continue to be recognised."   Shahid Husain, Rector of LUMS and Dr Tariq Jadoon, Interim Provost, offered their sincere congratulations for this prestigious award.

Dr Alnoor Bhimani, Honorary Dean of the Suleman Dawood School of Business at LUMS, said, "Dr Ahmad is transforming the educational landscape in South Asia and beyond. His transdisciplinary learning initiatives that interconnect subjects bring about the most positive student-teacher experiences. His ideas make him a world-class educational leader.”