Adil Najam Named Dean of Pardee School of Global Studies
The new Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies took a major step forward last week with the appointment of Adil Najam as its inaugural dean. The school was endowed by a generous gift of $25 million from Frederick S. Pardee (SMG’54, GSM’54, Hon.’06) and whose core mission is the improvement of the human condition around the globe, will open in the fall.
Najam, a professor of international relations and of earth and environment, is a renowned expert in global policy, international diplomacy and development. His research spans multiple disciplines and issues and has strongly focused on global climate change, sustainable development, global governance, and environmental policy in developing countries. Additionally, he has also worked and written on issues related to South Asia politics, philanthropy, and nonprofit management. He was director of BU’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future from 2007 through 2011 and has also served as the Vice Chancellor of the Lahore Univeristy of Managment Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore, Pakistan.
“Adil is a wonderful choice for the dean of the Pardee School,” says President Robert A. Brown. “He has the leadership experience and the academic breadth and depth needed to lead the creation of new approaches to interdisciplinary global studies. I look forward to working with him in his new role.”
Jean Morrison, University provost and chief academic officer, says she is delighted that Najam has agreed to take on the role of inaugural dean. “Professor Najam is well positioned to lead the effort to establish the new Pardee School of Global Studies,” says Morrison. “He is a highly regarded scholar with expertise in international environmental and development policy, global governance, and higher education in developing countries. I also look forward to working with Adil in his new role.”
As dean, Najam will provide academic, intellectual, and administrative leadership to the Pardee School and promote excellence in all aspects of the school’s teaching, research, and outreach missions. He will lead the strategic planning process that will define the school’s direction for the first phase of its history and the ongoing development of its vision, goals, and strategies. He will also spearhead efforts to collaborate with partners inside the University and beyond and will be responsible for the management of the school’s financial and human resources, as well as for fundraising and stewardship as part of the Campaign for Boston University, the University’s ongoing comprehensive campaign. Najam will also serve as the director of the division of international studies, one of two divisions within the Pardee School during its inaugural phase.
The Pardee School is housed in the College of Arts & Sciences, and it will leverage that college’s existing strengths in international and global studies to reach new levels. “Adil Najam represents so much that is appropriate to the Pardee School as the founding dean,” says CAS Dean Virginia Sapiro. “There is his breadth of interests and interdisciplinarity, his international reach and reputation, the way he is known and admired by colleagues for his passion for the University, his generosity of spirit, and gregarious nature, and his experience in university leadership here and abroad.”
Najam says the school will provide an opportunity to build a new generation of global leaders. “Mr. Pardee’s generosity allows us to build something truly unique and meaningful,” he says. “With a deep commitment to interdisciplinarity, the Pardee School will bring together the amazing faculty and programs we already have with synergies that allow the whole to be even greater than it already is: in outstanding teaching, cutting-edge research, and relevant policy outreach and impact.”
Najam says the school’s mission “flows directly from our benefactor’s commitment: a dedication to improving the global human condition, everywhere and for everyone, and in all the ways that matter.”
Based on report in BUToday (14 April, 2014) by Art Jahnke. Full report here.