University Award of Excellence in Education
Dr Muhammad Memon
On the authority of the Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, and the Board of Trustees of the Aga Khan University, I am pleased to announce that the University Award for Excellence in Education is presented to Dr Muhammad Memon. Through Dr Memon’s distinguished career in Education, he has made a significant contribution to the development of the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development in Pakistan.
Dr Memon represents the notion of “Life-long Learning”. From 1965 to 1994, he acquired two Bachelors degrees in Arts and Education, four Masters degrees focusing on Sindhi Literature and Education, an L.L.B as well as a PhD in Education. His early education took place in Hyderabad and Jamshoro areas of Sindh, where ultimately, Dr Memon has made a vast contribution to the advancement of education systems. Dr Memon was one of the five founding faculty members of the AKU Institute for Educational Development in Pakistan. Dr Memon joined the IED in 1993 as an Assistant Professor and by 2005 made significant strides in scholarship, research and administration at the Institute that warranted his appointment as Director. He was the first Pakistan national to be selected for this position and served as Director for 8 years.
During his tenure at IED, Dr Memon’s contributions helped to drive the academic direction of the Institute, including its academic offering, rigour, research endeavours and its impact. Dr Memon demonstrated a passion for the pursuit of knowledge, examples of which included his leadership in the development of the Master of Philosophy in Education, the restructuring of the University’s PhD in Education programme, and his innovative approach to the Master of Education programme, all of which have been commended by external reviewers. Dr Memon’s impact on the field of education leadership and management at AKU is widely recognized as it involved initiatives that engaged participants from across Pakistan and which eventually led to this area being a second specialization in the Master of Education.
Dr Memon is highly respected in the government sector in Pakistan is sought out for advice on national policy on education, which has led to his membership on key public sector task forces dealing with education reforms. Dr Memon also initiated partnerships with education development projects in the public sector, some of which were funded by international donors such as USAID, DFATD, ADB and AusAID. He has spent significant effort in capacity building for educationists in the public sector resulting in the provincial governments enhancing the emphasis on professional development of head teachers and principals.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the University’s Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, and the Board of Trustees, it is my great pleasure to award Dr Muhammad Memon with the University Award of Excellence in Education.
