Forty years ago, AKU comprised of 250 students only. The university only had one degree programme and one diploma programme in a single country: Pakistan. AKU was exclusively a health-sciences university and the hospital was caring for only 150,000 patients a year.
Today, we have almost two dozen degree and diploma programmes and our horizons have expanded far beyond the health sciences into education, Muslim civilisations, media and communications, arts and sciences, and much more. AKU now cares for more than 2 million patients annually in hospitals that boast of international accreditations, which speak to high standards of quality.
Largely on the strength of our research, AKU has earned a place on lists of the top 50, top 100, top 150, and top 300 universities in the world in several fields.
Our 40th anniversary is a golden opportunity to share what we've achieved and how we achieved it. To share our mission, our vision, and where we're headed.
We see our 40th as an opportunity to honour and recognize the people who have made AKU what it is today: our faculty, staff, students, alumni, supporters and partners. If AKU has a lot to celebrate, it's because you and your predecessors have done things worth celebrating.
Sometimes we forget just how far we've come, as individuals and as an institution. The 40th is an opportunity to remind ourselves of what we have accomplished together and take this opportunity to celebrate all that we've achieved and to tell our story to the world.
Why Onwards?
'Onwards' expresses the confidence that AKU’s past instills in us, and the enthusiasm with which we look to the future. It is the word that naturally springs to our lips when we look back on our history and see all that we have achieved.
'Onwards' acknowledges AKU’s remarkable 40-year journey. Its strength and vitality in the present. And its tremendous potential to change people’s lives in the decades ahead.
