To honour their academic experience at LUMS, the MBA Class of 1998 has pledged to establish an endowment fund worth PKR 18 million, aimed to support the National Outreach Programme. To celebrate this commitment, an MOU signing ceremony was held between the Class and LUMS on January 22, 2020.
“We want to give back to our alma mater because it has made a great impact on our lives and helped us reach where we are today. Also, through this fund we would like to show our commitment to playing a constructive role towards the betterment of society, a lesson learnt at LUMS,” said Ahsan Sheikh, class representative MBA 1998, who led this initiative. Mr. Sheikh, together with Ayesha Karamat, Salman Danish, and Shahzad Bashir, mobilised the entire class for donating towards the fund.
Syed Babar Ali, Founding Pro Chancellor LUMS, was present at the ceremony to appreciate the sentiments and efforts of the Class. Also present were Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Vice Chancellor LUMS; MBA Class of 1998; Council and Board Members of Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) Luminites Association and Nuzhat Kamran, Director Office of Advancement.
On behalf of LUMS, Ms. Kamran extended a warm welcome to the guests, especially the MBA Class of 1998 and the members of SDSB Luminites Association. She acknowledged the Association for taking initiatives that take LUMS forward in every possible way and encouraged the alumni community to continue developing further partnerships with LUMS.
President of SDSB Luminites Association, Majid Munir spoke about a range of important activities conducted by the Association to bridge the gap between the alumni and LUMS, including organising industry talks and alumni guest speaker sessions for the LUMS community. These talks and sessions are a chance to engage in conversations with professionals who have achieved major success in their careers and are particularly beneficial to current students. The SDSB Luminites Association has also been an active part of mock interviews held by the LUMS Placement Office.
Detailing the new directions for LUMS, Dr. Ahmad outlined some of the key objectives of the 5-year plan, which include focusing on innovation and leadership through teaching and research and working towards making LUMS a model University in the region. Shedding light on the University’s future plans of launching a summer school, he said, “The idea is not only to help LUMS students, but to provide accessibility to many more students who can perhaps join the summer school. Our priority is to show that, through our programming, we are opening doors, not closing them.”
He also expressed his gratitude to the MBA Class 1998 for supporting LUMS in extending the benefits of the National Outreach Programme to the financially challenged youth of the country, “If you want to invest in Pakistan, you have to invest in education.”
