LUMS convocation: Graduates, VC look forward to ‘new beginnings’

Largest batch of students awarded degrees.

LAHORE:

“Today I will also graduate from LUMS, along with you, but it will always remain a part of me. I enjoyed every moment spent here and all of you made my time special,” said Vice Chancellor (VC) Adil Najam while addressing the 809 students who received their degrees on Saturday.

Najam took over as vice chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) in 2011 and announced his decision to step down on May 16. On Twitter, he said, “Thank you, #LUMS. It’s time to move on.” His tenure will end on June 30, the end of the academic year.

The VC told the students to look at the graduation “not as an end [but] a day of celebration” and new beginnings. He wished them the best of luck and hoped they would make the university, their parents and the country proud in the years to come. “Thank your parents,” said Najam.

He urged students to keep on “seeking knowledge”- something that he said was part of the Lums philosophy. The university’s 3-petal logo, he said, was representative of an open book and encouraged students to seek knowledge.



In his speech, he also highlighted the achievements of the university this year, saying that in the last year 40 per cent of the students had been given financial aid. Rs350 million was the total aid provided by the varsity over the last year.

Najam said that the university had the highest number of Fulbright scholars in Pakistan, “56 of the 200 recipients last year were Lums’ students.”

As many as eight students were awarded the National Management Foundation Medals, seven of them gold. The gold medallists were: Syed Amir Abbas and Chafak Afatkhar (Executive MBA), Saad Masood Khan (MBA), Umar Muneer (MS Computer Science), Talha Manzoor (MS Computer Engineering), Rabiya Rashid (MSc Economics), Naima Hafeez (best student overall in the undergraduate programmes). Saad Qadeer was given a silver medal for his overall performance.

The following students were given gold medals for being the best students in their undergraduate programmes: Rameesha Nayab, Amjad Hussain, Naima Hafeez, Saad Qadeer, Rida Qadri, Momina Sohail, Alieha Shahid, Usman Naseer, Muhammad Hussain Lakhani, Asad Khalid Ismail and Isfar Tariq.

Hafeez, who received two gold medals, described Najam as the “best vice chancellor” who was “easily accessible”.

She hopes to go abroad for her master’s and then take up a teaching position at her alma mater.

Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi, the founder of Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, was the keynote speaker. He wished the graduates the best of luck and urged them to make the country better.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2013.