Najam Delivers Commencement Address at Shalamar Medical and Dental College
Adil Najam, Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was the Chief Guest at the 2020 Convocation and Graduation ceremony of the Shalamar Medical and Dental College (SMDC) in Lahore, Pakistan.
The ceremony was moved online due to COVID-19, and Najam delivered his commencement address remotely to the graduating class of 142 new physicians and dentists being conferred the MBBS degree. The ceremony was presided by the Principal of SMDC Dr. Zahid Bashir.
In his commencement address, Najam spoke about the responsibilities and expectations that higher education bestows on professionals in developing countries and highlighted that the graduating doctors are “already privileged and also successful.” He reminded them that “the measure of life will not be on what you get from life, but what you give to those around you.” In this context, he recounted the story of the ‘conference of the birds’ from the 12th century Persian poet Farid ud Din Attar as a metaphor for the challenges of life and the responsibilities of leadership.
The convocation was the subject of two articles, one in The Daily Times and one in The News. A recording of the ceremony can be viewed on SMDC’s Facebook page.
Adil Najam is a global public policy expert who also served as the Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. He is the Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and was the former Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). His research focuses on issues of global public policy, especially those related to global climate change, South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and development, and human development. Read more about him here.