Former Federal Minister for Agriculture, Finance, Foreign Affairs.
Former Assistant President International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD-Rome).
Former Director, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO-Rome)
Economist, thinker, writer

BNU can make a difference

In a short period of seven years, BNU has already built a very positive reputation and has become the first choice for many aspiring students because BNU is the first Liberal Arts University offering modern, market oriented courses while ensuring that the history and culture of Pakistani society should also enrich the overall intellectual growth of students without disrupting their values. This balance between sound vocational education and academic excellence is the hallmark of BNU.

In pursuit of academic excellence, BNU is moving from the “instructional mode” to a “learning mode” and then to a “discovery mode”. The top down instructional mode was required for the industrial age, but we cannot meet the challenges of a knowledge based post industrial society of the 21st century without an inter-active learning mode of teaching, leading to the discovery of new knowledge through meaningful research, at least in certain areas.

BNU is also undertaking a detailed exercise to develop a medium term strategic vision for the period 2010-2020. Under this exercise, we will establish goals, targets, strategies and key performance indicators for each school and for the university as a whole, along with improvements in the academic, administrative and financial arrangements. These would include proposals to augment the non-fee income of the university and to expand links with other universities and institutions inside and outside Pakistan.

BNU recognizes that teacher is the key to good education. In fact no profession is noble more than education and no vocation is more vital for society than teaching. That is why 80 full-time faculty members of BNU are its most precious assets who are led by distinguished educational leaders like Prof. Salima Hashmi, Dr. Gulzar Haider, Dr. Hafiz Pasha, Dr. Sabiha Mansoor, Dr. Mehdi Hassan, Dr. Khaver Zia, and Dr. Ruhi Khalid. Most of our faculty members have been very active throughout the year in international seminars, art exhibitions and conferences.

A total of 825 students have so far graduated from BNU including 389 at post-graduate level. Of these students, 77% have already found remunerative jobs. Another 23% have opted to continue further studies in Pakistan and abroad. This positive response of the market is the best testimony of the relevance and quality of education provided by BNU.

Work on the new BNU Campus, with state of art facilities, studios and computer labs, is in full swing. After the School of Visual Arts and Design and the School of Architecture, some other Schools will also shift to the new campus during 2011.

Welcome to the exciting world of BNU.

—Sartaj Aziz, Vice Chancellor