GCU alumnus to set up school for business studies

LAHORE
An eminent industrialist and alumnus of Government College University (GCU) Iqbal Z Ahmed will set up an international school for business studies at his alma mater saying the state-of-the-art school will be a centre of excellence for financial and management studies in the country.
According to a press release, the announcement was made at the meeting of trustees and executive committee members of GCU Endowment Fund Trust (GCU-EFT) with the university’s academic heads.
“It’s a very big initiative by Iqbal Z Ahmed and we seriously have no words to express gratitude for his great and unprecedented philanthropic act to gift his alma mater an intentional business school that has no match in the country,” said Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) President Ijaz A Mumtaz was the guest of honour at the ceremony who also donated Rs 2.5 million to the GCU-EFT for initiating scholarships, while GCU Department of Persian distinguished Professor Dr Zaheer Ahmad Siddiqui, who every month donates his salary to the university’s endowment fund, also handed over a cheque of his salary to the vice-chancellor for a fee of a financially-challenged student. Overall, donations' cheques of about Rs 4.5 million were presented to the vice-chancellor.
Addressing the meeting, Iqbal Z Ahmed , who is also president and one of the major donors of GCU Endowment Fund Trust, discussed in detail the timeline, infrastructure, faculty and other requirements for the international business school with the university’s senior faculty members and vice- chancellor and also set a deadline of March 1, 2016 for the groundbreaking ceremony for the state-of-the-art building that shall produce world class entrepreneurs and financial and management experts for the country. He said he on the behalf of his family and his personal behalf committed to providing complete infrastructure and financial support for the working of the school. The vice-chancellor tasked GCU Management Studies Department Chairman Najaf Yawar Khan to start consultations and chalk out a comprehensive plan for the school.
Speaking on the occasion, Ijaz A Mumtaz said that GCU has a legacy of 151 years which gives it an edge over the other higher education institutions and with the adequate support of alumni, government and industry; it can do miracles in the field of education and research.
GCU EFT Executive Committee Secretary Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt proudly said the university’s endowment fund has swelled to Rs 210 million in just six years due to the untiring efforts of its executive committee which includes Dr Parvez Hassan, Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, Mian Muhammad Ashraf and Shameem Ahmad. He said the target of executive committee is to take the endowment to minimum Rs 1,000 million in coming years so that it can fund the education of every financially-challenged student of the university.
Main Misba-ur-Rahman, Mian Muhammad Ashraf, Mr Shameem Ahmad and Javaid Oberoi also pledged to continue work for the development of their alma mater and its endowment fund.
In his concluding remarks, the vice-chancellor appreciated the efforts of Executive Committee for building an endowment fund which is unprecedented in the public sector. However, he said they may broaden the scope of fund to support faculty development and other uplift projects of the university.
He also briefed the EFT trustees and executive committee about the shortage of faculty and other challenges being faced by the university.