Adil Najam () is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

academic who also serves as the global President of WWF, the

Worldwide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

(starting July 2023), and is Dean Emerıtus and Professor of International Relations and Earth and Environment at the Pardee School of Global Studies at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. He was the founding Dean of the Pardee School from its creation in 2014 until 2022, when he was awarded the status of Dean

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

by Boston University. Previously he had served as

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the LUMS in Lahore, Pakistan.

Life

Since 2023, Adil Najam serves as the global President of WWF International. In 2022, Adil Najam stepped down after eight years as the founding Dean of the

Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. In recognition of his services the University conferred on his the status of Dean Emeritus and also established the "Adil Najam Prize and Fellowship for Advancing the Public Understanding of Global Affairs". In 2011, Najam returned to Pakistan to head the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as its third

. During his tenure at LUMS, he oversaw the launch of a major student financial aid program and brought in major philanthropic gifts to enable an expansion of the university. However, he faced criticism for not intervening over the controversial termination of Pervez Hoodbhoy by the university's School of Science and Engineering. Najam left LUMS in June 2013, and returned to

. A year later he was appointed the inaugural dean of Pardee School. In 2008, the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

conferred on him the award of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, and in 2023, he was awarded the

Hilal-i-Imtiaz The ''Hilal-e-Imtiaz'' (; ), also spelled as ''Hilal-i-Imtiaz,'' is the second-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") civilian award and honour given to both civilians and military officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces by the Government of Pakist ...

by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

. In February 2009, he was appointed to the Committee for Development Policy by the United Nations Secretary General. He is a senior fellow of the

International Institute for Sustainable Development The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an independent think tank founded in 1990 working to shape and inform international policy on sustainable development governance. The institute has three offices in Canada - Winni ...

. He has also served as the Chair of the Boards of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), of LEAD-Pakistan, and of the Luc Hoffmann Institute. He also serves as a trustee on the international board of the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

and on the board of The Asia Foundation. Adil Najam was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the Information Technology University (ITU) in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2017, for his contributions in science, climate change, and sustainable development.

Publications

Scholarly work

Adil Najam promotes the idea of living in the "Age of Adaptation" and conceptualizing water as being as important to climate

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

as carbon was to

mitigation Mitigation is the reduction of something harmful that has occurred or the reduction of its harmful effects. It may refer to measures taken to reduce the harmful effects of hazards that remain ''in potentia'', or to manage harmful incidents that ...

. Najam served as a lead author for the third and fourth assessment reports of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...

(

IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World M ...

). The IPCC was awarded the

2007 Nobel Peace Prize The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared, in two equal parts, between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (founded in 1988) and United States former vice president, Al Gore (b. 1948) "for their efforts to build up and disseminate gr ...

for its contributions to advancing the understanding of global climate change. His books include ''How Immigrants Impact their Homelands'' (co-editor, 2013), ''"The Future of South-South Economic Relations"'' (co-editor, 2012), ''"Envisioning a Sustainable Development Agenda for Trade and Environment"'' (co-editor, 2007), ''"Portrait of a Giving Community"'' (2007),'' "Environment, Development and Human Security"'' (editor, 2003), and ''"Civic Entrepreneurship"'' (co-author, 2002). He was the lead author for the 2018 Pakistan National Human Development Report, which focused on the topic of

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

and included a first comprehensive district-by-district ranking in a national Human Development Index for Pakistan. The report and the district HDI index became a matter of much election campaign discussion during the

2018 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 25 July 2018 to elect the members of the 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties were Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim ...

Media

Early in his career, Najam worked as a journalist (sports reporter and columnist) for various newspapers and magazines in Pakistan. He has contributed to newspapers in Pakistan and in the international press.Get rid of all nuclear arms
(18 February 2004) In 2007, Najam launched the blog "All Things Pakistan (''Pakistaniat'')" which won the Brass Crescent Award for the best South Asian blog in 2010 and was judged the best current affairs blog by the Pakistan Blog Awards 2010.

Awards and recognition

References

External links

Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

Boston University announcement of appointment of Dr. Adil Najam as Inaugural Dean of the Pardee School of Global Studies

Outgoing VC of LUMS: A job well done

Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)

Dean, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

International Institute for Sustainable Development staff page
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Boston Globe calls Najam Global Citizen

''Pakistaniat: All Things Pakistan'' blog

Voice of Adil on National Public Radio (NPR)

June 2007 Op-Ed on Climate Change in The Boston Globe

December 2015 Op-Ed on Paris Climate Change Negotiations in The Guardian

October 2016 Op-Ed on role of immigrants in USA's academic and Nobel Prize successes in The Conversation

October 2016 Op-Ed on selection of new United Nations Secretary General in Time

Adil Najam joins the WWF International Board of Trustees
{{DEFAULTSORT:Najam, Adil Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Boston University faculty Pardee School of Global Studies faculty The Fletcher School at Tufts University faculty Pakistani academics Pakistani scientists Living people University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore alumni Pakistani emigrants to the United States Vice-chancellors of Lahore University of Management Sciences Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz The Asia Foundation Year of birth missing (living people) St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni