Kamal Ahmad

Kamal Ahmad

Kamal Ahmad (born March 28, 1965) is an American lawyer, educator, social entrepreneur, and CEO of Asian University for Women Support Foundation.[1] Ahmad established Asian University for Women located in Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2006.[2][3][4]

Early life

Ahmad was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh. At age 14, Ahmad established a series of internationally funded afternoon schools for adolescents who served as domestic workers in Dhaka.[5][6][7]

Ahmad moved to the U.S. in 1980 to attend Phillips Exeter Academy. At Exeter, he led the Third World Society and the Student-Faculty Committee on Corporate Responsibility which focused on the question of corporate divestment from apartheid-era South Africa. Ahmad entered Harvard College in 1983. As a freshman, Ahmad founded and managed the Overseas Development Network, a consortium of 70 university student groups across the United States dedicated to the promotion of international development projects.[8][9][10] In 1987, Ahmad won TIME Magazine's second annual College Achievement Award for "20 of the most outstanding juniors in America."[11]

Family

Ahmad's father was Professor Kamaluddin Ahmad, a famed biochemist who pioneered the study of biochemistry and nutritional sciences in the Indian subcontinent.[12][13] Professor Ahmad established one of the region's first biochemistry departments at the University of Dhaka in 1957.

Ahmad's grandfather, M.O. Ghani was one of the first Bengali-Indian Muslims to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry from the United Kingdom. He went on to become Founder-Vice Chancellor of Bangladesh Agricultural University in Mymensingh, Vice Chancellor of the University of Dhaka, Pakistan's Ambassador to Tanzania and other East African countries, and an independent Member of Parliament in Bangladesh.[14]

Career

Kamal with AUW students.

Following graduation from Harvard College in 1988, Ahmad served on the staffs of the World Bank; Rockefeller Foundation; UNICEF; and the General Counsel of the Asian Development Bank based in Manila, Philippines. In 1993, Ahmad entered University of Michigan Law School. In 1996, he joined the New York law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, & Jacobson LLP (1996-2000). Ahmad also practiced law in London with the U.S. law firm of Mayer Brown LLP (2001-2002).

In 1998, while practicing law in New York City, Ahmad conceived and co-directed the World Bank/UNESCO Task Force on Higher Education & Society.[15]

In September 2006, the Parliament of Bangladesh ratified the landmark Charter of the Asian University for Women. The Charter endowed the University with institutional autonomy, academic freedom, and embedded it in the principle of non-discrimination. In 2005 and 2006, the Open Society Foundations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided the start-up funds which enabled AUW to become operational in 2008.[16]

Awards and affiliations

Ahmad is a recipient of a number of awards including the United Nations Gold Peace Medal & Citation Scroll, given by the Paul G. Hoffman Awards Fund for "outstanding contribution to national and international development."[9] In 2002, Ahmad was elected as a "Global Leader for Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum. Ahmad was also given the John Phillips Award from Phillips Exeter Academy. The award is given to "an alumnus or alumna of the Academy, still living at the time of nomination, whose life demonstrates John Phillips' ideal of goodness and knowledge united in noble character and usefulness to mankind.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Asian University For Women – Who We Are". asian-university.org. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  2. ^ Crossette, Barbara (2001-12-09). "Group Plans Asian College For Women In Poverty". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  3. ^ Wassener, Bettina (2012-11-25). "University Caters to the Deprived". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  4. ^ "International Coalition Plans New University for Asian Women". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2002-03-22. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  5. ^ "The education of Kamal Ahmad". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  6. ^ "From Bangladesh to Boston". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  7. ^ "A School for Emerging Women Leaders: Interview with Kamal Ahmad of Asian University for Women". Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  8. ^ Carmel, Jeffrey J. (1984-02-29). "A college student's campaign to aid his native Bangladesh". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  9. ^ a b "Junior at Harvard Rallies U.S. Students for Overseas Development Projects". The New York Times. 1985-08-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  10. ^ Frank, Elizabeth Bales (1990-08-20). "ON YOUR OWN; This Tour Blends Cycling and Helping". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  11. ^ Miller, Robert L. (1987-04-13). "A Letter From the Publisher: Apr. 13, 1987". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  12. ^ "Scientific symposium on Professor Kamal opens in the city". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  13. ^ "Ahmad, Kamaluddin - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  14. ^ "Professor M.O. Ghani (Deceased)". Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.
  15. ^ "Home". www.tfhe.net. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  16. ^ Kingston, Jeff (2009-01-11). "Asia University for Women: magic in the making". The Japan Times Online. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  17. ^ "Phillips Exeter Alumni/ae - Award Recipients". www.exienet.org. Retrieved 2017-01-17.

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