Our Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan,
Chair Zakir Mahmood and Members of the Board of Trustees,
President Sulaiman Shahabuddin,
AKU leaders, faculty and staff,
Donors, partners, alumni, volunteers,
Family members of the graduates,
And, most importantly, the Class of 2025:

As Salaam–o-Alaikum,

It’s my pleasure to be with you once again on this most important and inspiring day. This is the moment the graduates have been eagerly anticipating for a long time, and their family members have been eagerly anticipating it as well. And here it is – a day of hard-won, well-deserved celebration. Graduates, congratulations!

It is a privilege to be installed as the first Pro-Chancellor in the University’s history. I am honoured to support the Chancellor and Board of Trustees in this role of stewardship and collaboration – working with the University’s leadership to uphold its values and advance its mission.

My AKU journey started when this campus was first coneceptualised, so I guess I was a little girl. I discussed it very often during family meals and throughout my childhood and he was so proud, so very proud when the charter signed. My deeper engagement began officially in 2003. At that time, the University was looking to the future with confidence and pursuing major aspirations:

• It was seeking to become a leading source of new knowledge,
• to expand into the humanities and social sciences, and
• to extend its reach to new locations.

Those aspirations are now burgeoning realities.

Today, AKU is not just a conduit of knowledge. It actively creates and contributes to global science and scholarship, and this is becoming widely recognised. Moreover, as President Shahabuddin just said, the work of the University’s researchers is helping communities and countries to address important challenges.

AKU has developed beyond the health sciences and teacher education. Next year, we will be welcoming the first graduates from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Our educators and health professionals will be joined by young women and men who have studied philosophy, history, economics and environmental science.

The University’s geographic expansion has seen AKU’s presence expand across Pakistan, into more cities and villages than ever before. From Karachi to Matiari, from Lahore to Gilgit, the University’s healthcare professionals, educators and researchers are part of the fabric of people’s lives. AKU’s growth beyond Pakistan has been equally impressive. More than one-third of the University’s students and patients are now in East Africa, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom. Such reach is uncommon, and it gives AKU a rare capacity to create, exchange and apply knowledge across borders.

The goals that shaped the University’s evolution have been achieved through collective effort. They rest on the dedication of our faculty and our staff, the loyalty of our donors and the contributions of our partners, volunteers and alumni. The Government of Pakistan has provided support to this institution that will remain essential to the University as it moves into the next phase of its development.

Having expanded its research, academic and geographic scope, AKU is once again looking to the future with ambition – much like the Class of 2025. Today, I am reminded of how much the Aga Khan University’s many past achievements – and its future promise –depend on its graduates. Our alumni have carried AKU’s name far and wide, strengthening its reputation for excellence. And now, the Class of 2025 stands ready to follow in their footsteps.

Our hopes for the University rest in our faith in you. You have learned to seek knowledge actively and creatively, to value pluralism, to serve others with purpose and to make ethical conduct the foundation of your professional lives.

For these reasons, we believe that your aspirations will become realities. We know that you will lead with conviction and compassion, work with others in pursuit of a shared purpose as you continue your journey that you began here. Class of 2025: congratulations on a wonderful achievement that we celebrate today!

Thank you.