AMN /
Aligarh: Well Known entrepreneur and AMU alumnus, Mr Frank F Islam, Chairman and CEO of FI Investment Group, USA and his wife Ms Debbie Driesman laid the foundation stone of Frank and Debbi Islam Management Complex at the Aligarh Muslim University campus on Friday.
On the occasion, Mr Islam said that he was in AMU because of a common commitment and a shared belief with the rest of the AMU community.
He added that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan once said that ‘from the seed which we sow today there may spring up a mighty tree’ and with the quote, Mr Islam assured the gathering that this Management Complex will one day become that tree and its branches will spread everywhere.
Mr Islam said that this is a kind of university we can build and expand together and one day the students of this Management Complex will be future leaders. “However, all of this was not possible without the support and determination of AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt General Zameer Uddin Shah (retd)”.
He said his donation of US $ 2 million to build a new School of Management Complex and endow a ‘Chair for entrepreneurship and innovation at AMU’ is his way of paying back to AMU.
“Without AMU, I would have not been where I am today,” declared Mr Islam.
He further said that this new building with modern architecture will be the home for AMU Business Faculty and educational empowerment for its students from where will come the future leaders of India and the world.
He pointed out that the ‘Chair for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’ at the Management Complex will train the students for striving and grasping the underlying phenomenon of the entrepreneur.
“This new Complex will provide fascinating success stories and educators will develop exciting new approaches, and researchers will set themselves for tackling the challenging opportunities ahead,” said Mr Islam, adding that this institute will provide opportunities for thousands of people in India and abroad.
AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah (retd) recalled that during his first visit as the Vice Chancellor to the Management Faculty, “the teachers told me about this project. I replied the teachers that the New Management Complex will soon be a reality”.
He informed the gathering that new academic session of the Department of Business Administration will start in the new complex.
The Vice Chancellor further said that today we need to have hundreds of Frank Islam and leaders and this new Management Complex will act as an inspiration.
He urged students to imbibe sufficient education to become success stories like that of Mr Frank Islam. The Vice Chancellor urged students to perceive themselves as future leaders of this country and work hard on fulfilling their aims.
In the conclusion, the Vice Chancellor assured that he will do everything possible to restore the AMU minority status .
While introducing Mr Islam to the gathering at the press conference; Mr Ali Rizvi from Boston, USA said that besides being a entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, Mr Islam serves on number boards and advisory councils including the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, the U S Institute of Peace, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the Brookings Institution.
He added that Mr Islam also serves on various boards and councils at more than half-dozen universities including Johns Hopkins, University, American University, and George Mason University.
He pointed out that Frank has written two well regarded books on the American condition, Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again (2013) and Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen’s Guide for Restoring Our Competitive Advantage (2010).
While delivering the welcome address, Professor Parvez Talib revealed that the new Management Complex will be three times as big as the present Department of Business Administration.
AMU Pro Vice Chancellor Brigadier S Ahmad Ali (retd), Mr Ameer Ahmad, Dr Nadeem Tarin, Prof Javaid Akhter, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, AMU Regsitrar Dr Asfar Ali Khan and Finance Officer Prof SM Jawed Akhtar were also present on the occasion.
Prof Valeed Ahmad Ansari, Dean, Faculty of Management proposed the vote of thanks. MBA student Umama Tariq Rasheed conducted the programme.