Aga Khan Trust for Culture

<div class="pc-title">His Highness the Aga Khan</div>

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    <p>His Highness the Aga Khan, the founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, is the 49th hereditary Imam (Spiritual Leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. In Islam&rsquo;s ethical tradition, religious leaders not only interpret the faith but also have a responsibility to help improve the quality of life in their community and in the societies amongst which they live. For His Highness the Aga Khan, this has meant a deep engagement with development for over 60 years through the agencies of the AKDN.</p>
    <p>His Highness the Aga Khan established the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and became Chairman of its Steering Committee in 1977. Subsequently, he founded the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT (1979) and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (1988), which now includes the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme, Aga Khan Music Programme, Aga Khan Museum and the Education Programme. &nbsp;Other AKDN agencies are also active in the field of the built and natural environment, such as the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, which works to mitigate the threat posed by natural disasters and climate change.</p>
    <p>The Aga Khan&rsquo;s interest and patronage in architecture has been recognized by numerous professional institutions who have bestowed upon him their highest honours and medals, including the American Institute of Architects, USA (1984), the Royal Institute of British Architects (1991), International Union of Architects (2001), the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (2013) and the Architectural League of New York (2017).&nbsp; He has also been honoured for his work in preserving cultural heritage, including the Hadrian Award from the World Monuments Fund (1996), the Vincent Scully Prize from the National Building Museum&nbsp; (2005) and the Urban Land Institute&rsquo;s J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development (2011).&nbsp; In addition, he has received honorary citizenships from cities as varied as Granada, Samarkand and Timbuktu, as well as many other awards, decorations and honorary degrees.</p>
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His Highness the Aga Khan, the founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, is the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.

HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN

<p><span>Mohammed Arkoun, a French academician of Algerian origin, is Emeritus Professor of the History of Islamic Thought at the Sorbonne (Paris III), and visiting professor at universities in the United States, Europe, and the Muslim world. Professor Arkoun&rsquo;s work and interests concentrate on classical Islam and contemporary issues of Islam facing modernity. He is associated with several European initiatives to rethink and reshape the relationship between Europe, Islam, and the Mediterranean world.</span></p>


 Mohammed Arkoun

<p><span>Selma Al-Radi is an Iraqi archaeologist, and a research associate at New York University. She has worked in Yemen since 1977. In 1983, she undertook the restoration of the 16th century Madrasa al-Amiryah in the town of Rada', and is currently overseeing the final phase of the project and the restoration of the internal wall paintings. Also in Yemen, she is now completing the rehabilitation of the complex of Imamate palaces as the National Museum in Sanaa, and preparing the catalogue of the museum collections for publication.&nbsp;</span><span>Dr. al-Radi has excavated in Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Cyprus, Syria, and Yemen, and has published in Arabic and English. She was a member of the 1986 and 1995 Award Technical Reviews, and of the 1989, 1992, and 1998 Steering Committees.</span></p>


Selma Al-Radi is an Iraqi archaeologist, and a research associate at New York University. She has worked in Yemen since 1977.

 Selma Al-Radi

 Hasan-Uddin Khan

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<p><span>Isma&euml;l Serageldin is an Egyptian architect and planner. He is a Vice President of the World Bank in Washington, D.C., responsible for the department for Environmentally Sustainable Development and for a wide array of special programmes dealing with poverty, environment, and socio-economic development.</span></p>


Ismaël Serageldin is an Egyptian architect and planner.

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