Prof. Najam Speaks at BU Humphrey Fellows’ Commencement

Prof. Adil Najam, Director of the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, was the commencement speaker at the 2009 commencement exercise of the Boston University Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program. The program is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and attracted a large number of BU Humphrey Fellow alumni from around the world. The commencement was led by Boston University Provost Dr. David Campbell and the Director of the BU Humphrey Fellows program Dr. Ksenya Khinchuk.

In his commencement remarks Dr. Najam focussed on the concept of global citizenship and highlighted the necessity of thinking in a global context in today’s world. Given the global vision of the Humphrey Fellows program he stressed on the ‘globalness’ of the world we live in and the need to create leaders with a global vision who understand the realities of the contexts they come from but can place these realities within a larger global vision.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program was established by Congress in 1978 in honor of the late Senator and Vice President, Hubert H. Humphrey. In the spirit of a world leader concerned with fostering international understanding, the objective of the program is to permit mid-career professionals from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union to gain expertise in their fields as they have evolved in the United States; and to allow U.S. citizens in the business, government, and academic communities to profit from the knowledge and perspectives of professional counterparts in other countries and to establish lasting ties with them. As part of the Fulbright International Educational Exchange activities, the Humphrey Fellowship Program is funded through the United States Department of State and administered nationally by the Institute of International Education.

Boston University has supported the program since its inception and has hosted 403 Humphrey Fellows to date. Under the personal guidance of faculty mentors and program coordinators, Fellows engage in individualized programs of graduate-level coursework, independent research, special seminars, and colloquia at the University, and in activities related to their professional fields in government agencies, private organizations, and corporations.