On Saturday, March 18, Aga Khan University (AKU) celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2022, its first-ever Founder’s Day, and the University’s fortieth anniversary. Simultaneous ceremonies were held in Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and broadcast online to an international audience of AKU’s friends and supporters. Princess Zahra Aga Khan attended the ceremony in Karachi and shared a message from His Highness the Aga Khan, Founder and Chancellor of the University.
Princess Zahra’s full speech here
Chief Guests were:
in Karachi – Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah;
in Dar es salaam – Ambassador Manfredo Fanti, Head of the European Union Delegation to Tanzania and to the East African Community;
inn Kampala – Ms Cornelia Penzel, KfW Country Director for Uganda; and
in Nairobi – Dr Beatrice Muganda Inyangala, Principal Secretary, State Department for Higher Education and Research, Kenya.
In his message, His Highness the Aga Khan traced AKU’s 40-year journey from 1983 to the present, calling AKU a source of hope and expressing pride in its achievements and confidence in its future.
“Today, as in 1983, the future of the University lies in the hands of its leaders, faculty, staff, and supporters. Together, all of us are the custodians of the founding vision. Our history gives us every reason to believe that so long as we remain true to that vision, AKU’s light – the light depicted in the University’s seal – will grow ever brighter, helping to illuminate the path to a better future for the people it serves.”
Full speech here
President Sulaiman Shahabuddin paid tribute to His Highness and “his vision of a university that reconciles loyalty to international standards with service to those in need, that prepares its students to use knowledge to identify and solve problems, that demonstrates that science is the property of no single culture, but of all humanity.”
“It is thanks to his singular devotion to making that vision a reality, no matter the obstacles, that we are here today,” President Shahabuddin said.
Full speech here
Class Valedictorians Shazma Jaffer and Mian Arsam Haroon paid tribute to their fellow students.
Full speeches here
A Transformative Vision: Take a trip down memory lane to see the Founder’s vision transform into reality.
AKU’s 40th year will see the launch of several new academic programmes. In Pakistan, classes will begin at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In East Africa, the University will begin offering a six-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing. In Kampala, Uganda, the University is building a new campus that will include a University Hospital and academic centre.
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Amazing achievements by our visionary Imam.
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