SON Faculty and Staff Announce the Gift of a Professorship Endowment to AKU

AKU’s School of Nursing Celebrates its Silver Anniversary

Aga Khan University School of Nursing (AKU-SON), the first academic entity of AKU, started its classes in 1980 with 39 students in its first year. Today, 25 years later, AKU-SON has graduated a total of 2088 nurses and includes four PhD nurses in its 64-member faculty. The school has the honour of being the first institution in Pakistan to introduce bachelors and masters degree programmes in nursing, and has also established nursing programmes and collaborations in East Africa, Afghanistan and Syria.

 

Distinguished guests at the opening ceremony of AKU-SON Silver Jubilee: (L to R) Dr Mohammad Khurshid, Dean, AKU-Medical College; Mr Robert Edwards, Dr Fraser Mustard and Dr Robert Buchanan, Members, AKU Board of Trustees (BOT); Mr Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, President, AKU; Princess Zahra Aga Khan, Member, BOT; Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi, Chairman, BOT; Dr Yasmin Amarsi, Dean, AKU-SON; Dr David Taylor, Acting Provost, AKU; and Dr Roderick Fraser, Member, BOT.

December 1, 2005 marked the opening ceremony of AKU-SON’s 25th anniversary celebrations, which was graced by the Chairman of AKU’s Board of Trustees, Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi, and Members including Princess Zahra Aga Khan, AKU President Shamsh Kassim-Lakha and Dr Fraser Mustard. Dr Paula Herberg, Former Associate Dean, AKU-SON, also attended the ceremony. 

“In the past 25 years, AKU-SON has truly contributed to the improvement and appreciation of nurses in Pakistan and around the world,” said Princess Zahra Aga Khan, while speaking on the occasion. “In the next 25 years, we need to make it easier for women and men to be recognised as professionals and to be socially accepted,” she added, noting that nurses were in huge demand around the world, and specially with the after-effects of October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, it was important to acknowledge the contribution that nurses would make in times of disaster as well as in the daily life of a nation.

Princess Zahra Aga Khan addresses the gathering at the AKU-SON Silver Jubilee.

Shireen Yusuf (Class of ’83), who is now Head Nurse, Consulting Clinics, AKUH gave a heart-warming speech narrating the story of her association with AKU-SON and how it had played a major role in her life. She recalled that when she had told her parents about her wish to join AKU-SON, her mother was distressed. The audience laughed out loud when Shireen told them how her mother had tried to discourage her by saying that no one would want to marry her if she became a nurse. Shireen went ahead and joined AKU-SON and contrary to her mother’s expectations of impending spinsterhood, soon got married after graduation. Through these years, she has been able to maintain her career while being married and a mother of two children. Amid applause, Shireen told the rapt audience that last year when it came to her own daughter choosing a career, Shireen’s mother-in-law suggested that the grand-daughter also become a nurse.

Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi congratulated AKU-SON and observed that the University had brought prestige to the profession of nursing in Pakistan, while Mr Kassim-Lakha discussed the institution’s expansion through the years and its international collaborations. On this occasion, Dr Yasmin Amarsi, Dean AKU-SON, announced a gift of a professorship endowment to the University by AKU-SON faculty and alumni.

Nursing students assemble at the AKU-SON courtyard for the opening ceremony of the 25 years celebrations of AKU-SON.

 

AKU-SON plans to hold academic activities throughout the year 2006 as part of its silver jubilee commemoration activities. These include an international nursing scientific conference in late 2006, an alumni reunion and various educational workshops and awareness sessions.