Professor & Inaugural Dean​

Stephen Lyon​

Professor Stephen Lyon took the helm as the inaugural dean for the Aga Khan University’s new Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

Professor Lyon is a cultural anthropologist with an interest in social organisation, cultural systems, conflict and development in rural and urban Pakistan. He was the President of the Society for Anthropological Sciences (2019-2021) and the Treasurer of the Pakistan Studies Group (2000-2020), that organised the annual Pakistan Workshop in the Lake District. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Social Science Computer Review (a SAGE journal).

Moreover, Professor Lyon has deep ties to Pakistan. He completed part of his high school education at the Lahore American School and has lived and worked in a rural village in Attock District, Punjab, on and off, since 1998.

“Returning to Pakistan for this exciting position as Inaugural Dean of FAS fills me with a great sense of warmth and pride – it feels like I am coming home. I believe in the transformative power of an arts and sciences education for a country like Pakistan – one that is diverse in every way, rich in its culture and forward looking while honouring the past.”

He has been with AKU since 2018 as the Head of Educational Programmes at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London. Since his time with AKU, Dr Lyon has been instrumental in the development of the FAS programme, curriculum and structure. FAS will build on the work of AKU-ISMC, including its research on governance, popular culture, development, digital humanities and cultures of the Indian Ocean, as the leading arm of the humanities and social sciences at the University.​