Message from the President
Welcome to Aga Khan University
A Role Model for Health and Education in the Developing World
For more than 30 years, AKU has been making a difference in the developing world by enabling outstanding men and women to realize their true potential. In each of the six countries in which we operate – Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom – we are:
Training Leaders: Because a single leader can have an enormous impact, we equip our graduates with the expertise, practical skills and entrepreneurial outlook needed to lead change in their societies and to thrive in the global economy.
Embodying Excellence: In places where resources are scarce and few institutions are effective, we meet the highest quality standards and demonstrate that excellence is a powerful force for transformation.
Discovering What Works: One of the developing world’s leading sources of health and education research, we are creating new knowledge that saves and enhances lives in some of the world’s poorest places.
Serving the Community: To date, our Patient Welfare Programme has provided subsidized care worth $69 million (USD) to 629,000 patients. Our prize-winning and influential Urban Health Programme, which has significantly improved life in squatter settlements in Karachi, is just one of many examples of our community service.
Empowering Women: Half our faculty and three of every five AKU students are women. Moreover, our leadership in maternal and child health research is internationally recognized. Providing girls and women with opportunities to thrive will always be one of our top priorities.
Fostering Pluralism: Through our scholarship, curricula and admissions policies, we build respect and understanding across cultural, religious, communal and national boundaries.
Always Connecting: AKU has a long record of partnering successfully with other institutions, and goes out of its way to forge connections between the private and public sectors, the developed and developing worlds, cities and villages, ideas and faiths.
Planning for the Future: In the age of the knowledge economy, great universities are more indispensable than ever before. To equip promising young people for success, we will introduce new undergraduate liberal arts programmes and graduate professional education in both East Africa and Pakistan.
This is a tremendously exciting time in our history. I look forward to continuing to work with the entire AKU community to make our University the best that it can possibly be.
Firoz Rasul
