Board of Trustees

Dipu Moni

Chair, AUW Board of Trustees; Minister of Education, Government of Bangladesh

Dr. Dipu Moni, MP, is serving Bangladesh Government as the Minister of Education of Bangladesh since January 2019. Previously, Dr. Moni served as the Bangladesh Minister of Foreign Affairs. She was the first woman to hold this position. Dr. Moni was also the first woman to be appointed South-Asian Chairperson of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG). She is a Senate Member of Dhaka University and Chair of the AUW Board of Trustees.

Education:

MBBS, Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh
MPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
LLM, University of London, UK
LLB, National University, Bangladesh

Jack R Meyer

Vice Chair, AUW Board of Trustees; Chair, AUW Support Foundation; Former President & CEO, Harvard Management Company and Former Co-Partner, Convexity Capital Management

Jack R. Meyer is Former Senior Managing Partner at Convexity Capital Management L.P. located in Boston.  He co-founded the firm with managing partners, Dave Mittelman and Maurice Samuels in July 2005. Before Convexity, Jack was President and CEO of Harvard Management Company, which manages the University’s endowment assets, pension funds, charitable trusts and pooled income funds totaling in excess of $31 billion by the end of his term. Prior to HMC, Jack was Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer of the Rockefeller Foundation where he managed the Foundation’s endowment, valued at $2 billion.  Before the Foundation, he was Deputy Controller of New York City, where he managed $20 billion in total assets, including the City’s pension funds, sinking funds, and treasury funds. He also held various investment management positions with Lionel D. Edie, a New York City investment firm and at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Jack currently serves as the Chairman Emeritus of the Asian University for Women Support Foundation, and the Chair of the Boston Ballet. He also is on the Board of Directors of The Boston Foundation. Previously, he served as a Director of the Investment Responsibility Research Council, and on the investment committees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Massachusetts State Pension Fund, and the Atlantic Foundation.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Denison University.  In 2004 Denison awarded him an honorary doctorate degree.  He received his Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Lynne Anne Davis

Secretary, AUW Board of Trustees; President & Senior Partner, FleishmanHillard Asia Pacific

Lynne Anne Davis is President & Senior Partner of FleishmanHillard Asia Pacific, an award-winning network of 18 owned offices in 10 countries, including three brands and a number of emerging market start-ups. She leads growth strategies, business expansion, and enhancement of the global consultancy’s reputation for quality consulting and creativity, thought leadership, and being employer of choice in the industry. To this end, she led the establishment of the firm’s Global China Practice, including an innovative China Masters Exchange to fast-track top Mandarin-speaking graduates in the West before transferring to FleishmanHillard’s Greater China operations.

She is a sought-after speaker and commentator on industry issues, and passionate advocate of Shared Value.  Ms. Davis was Jury President in the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.  In 2013, she was named “Global Women’s Champion” by NAFE and received The Holmes Report’s “Individual Achievement Award”. She was voted as one of “Asia’s Most Admired Agency Leaders,” and debuted on PRWeek’s Power List in 2014.

Education:

BA Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA

Arif Khan CFA FCMA

Treasurer, AUW Board of Trustees; Vice Chairman of Shanta Asset Management Limited

Mr. Arif khan, is the Vice Chairman of Shanta Asset Management Limited. Over the past 30 years of his career, Mr. Khan has played numerous pivotal roles in different organizations. Prior to partnering up with the Shanta Group, Mr. Khan led IDLC Finance as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Before joining IDLC, Mr. Khan served as the commissioner of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC). During his tenure in BSEC, he played a vital role in developing the capital market of Bangladesh. Prior to working at BSEC, he served at IDLC Finance for almost 15 years during his first tenure in the company. Mr. Khan commenced his career in 1991 as a probationary officer at AB Bank Limited. Later, he served in multifarious renowned companies including Beximco Fisheries and British American Tobacco (BAT) Limited. Mr. Arif Khan served many volunteer roles during his professional career. He is the founding president of both the Bangladesh Merchant Bank Association (BMBA) and the CFA Society, Bangladesh. He also functioned as the president at the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB). He graduated in Finance and Banking from the University of Dhaka and obtained his MBA degree from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka. Furthermore, he is a member of the CFA Institute, USA and a fellow member at the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB). 

Education:

MBA, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Kamal Ahmad

Founder, Asian University for Women

Kamal Ahmad is the Founder of Asian University for Women. He has served on the staffs of the World Bank; Rockefeller Foundation; UNICEF; and the General Counsel of the Asian Development Bank based in Manila, Philippines. He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.

Education:

JD, University of Michigan, USA

BA, Government and Economics, Harvard College, USA

Tim DeVoogd

Professor, Cornell University

Dr. Tim DeVoogd is a neurobiologist at Cornell University, active in research and teaching. For much of his career, he has studied neuroanatomical effects of learning, looking at neural consequences of song learning and spatial learning in songbirds. He and his students have shown that these two forms of learning are similar in mechanism and brain localization to equivalent forms of learning in mammals–with which birds have not had common ancestors perhaps 300 million years. In his professional life, he has chosen research collaborations and teaching commitments that have brought him into close contact with scientists and students in more than a dozen countries (sabbaticals at Oxford, University of Cape Town, and National University of Singapore). In Qatar, Singapore and South Africa, he has taught students for whom English was not their first language. Through these interactions, he became interested in scientific exchange as a vehicle for understanding.

Education:

Ph.D., University of Illinois, USA

BA, Hope College, USA

Meenakshi Gopinath

Founder & Honorary Director, Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace Initiative

Meenakshi Gopinath is the Former Principal of Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi, where she also teaches in the Department of Politics. She is also Founder and Honorary Director of the Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace initiative, and she is a member of the Neemrana Peace Initiative and the Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy. Dr. Gopinath was the first woman to serve on the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) of India.

Her interests include issues of human rights and gender, conflict transformation, and Buddhist and Gandhian philosophy. Dr. Gopinath has authored numerous works including Pakistan in Transition, Conflict Resolution: Trends and Prospects, Transcending Conflict: A Resource book on Conflict Transformation, and Dialogic Engagement. She has also written chapters and articles about Gandhi, the politics of Pakistan, conflict resolution, gender, and peace building.

In recognition of her contribution to the field of women’s education and empowerment, she has received several awards including the Padma Shri Award; the Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Award; the Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in Education; the Mahila Shiromani Award; the Delhi Citizen Forum Award; the Qimpro Platinum Standard Award for Education; and the International Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Gopinath has also received the L.M. Singhvi  Fellowship Award at the David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies at the University of Wales.

Education:

PhD, University of Delhi, India

MA, University of Massachusetts, USA

BA Political Science, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, India

Muhammed Aziz Khan

Founder and Chairman of Summit Group

Muhammed Aziz Khan is the Founder and Chairman of Summit Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh, specializing in communication, trading, shipping, energy and power.

Recognized as the 2015 Business Person of the Year at the DHL & Daily Star Business Awards, Mr. Khan has led Summit Group in building long-term partnerships with multinational corporations such as General Electric, International Finance Corporation, and Wartsila. Under his leadership, Summit Group successfully expanded its operations, achieving revenues of US$1.2 billion in 2019, with a further US$3 billion dedicated towards future investments into Bangladesh’s energy sector through a partnership venture with Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan.

In addition to his position at Summit Group, Mr. Khan is also an acting Chairman of several Summit Group Subsidiaries as well as the Siraj Khaleda Trust and IPCO Hotels/IPCO Developments Limited. Alongside his role as Founder Chairman of the Prothom Alo Trust, Mr. Khan is the Founding President of both the Bangladesh Energy Companies Association and Bangladesh Scouts Foundation.

For his work in establishing long-term business relations between Bangladesh and Finland, Mr. Khan was made Honorary Consul General of Finland in Bangladesh in 2016. After completing his studies at Armanitola Government High School and Notredame College in Dhaka, Mr. Khan received an MBA in 1980 from the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Dhaka.

Education:

Norterdame College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

MBA, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Eun Mee Kim

President, Ewha Womans University, South Korea

Professor Eun Mee Kim is currently serving as President of Ewha Womans University in South Korea in addition to her roles as Professor in the Graduate School of International Studies and Director of the Ewha Global Health Institute for Girls. Prior to her current positions, Professor Kim served as Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies and Director of the Institute for Development and Human Security at Ewha.

Her research interests lie in economic and social development of developing countries, international political economy and sociology, as well as global public health where her work has been supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since 2013. Having published numerous books and peer-reviewed journal articles on South Korea’s development, East Asian foreign aid, gender, global public health and multiculturalism, Professor Kim was appointed by the UN Secretary General as one of 15 scientists to work on the Global Sustainable Development Report 2019. This report was presented at the UN General Assembly in 2019 titled “The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development”.

Professor Kim completed her BA in Sociology, with honors, from Ewha Womans University before obtaining her MA and PhD in Sociology from Brown University in 1983 and 1987 respectively. Upon holding several research and lecturing positions at various universities such as Brown University, Temple University, University of Southern California, and others, Professor Kim firmly established herself within Ewha Womans University, and subsequently as President of Korea Association of International Development and Cooperation between 2011 and 2012.

Education: 

BA in Sociology, Ewha Womans University, South Korea

MA and Ph.D. in Sociology, Brown University, USA

Richard Miller

President Emeritus, Olin College of Engineering

Richard K. Miller was appointed President and first employee of Olin College of Engineering in 1999; in June 2020 and became President Emeritus and Professor of Mechanical Engineering; He then served as the Jerome C. Hunsaker Visiting Professor of Aerospace Systems at MIT (2020-2021).  Previously, he served as Dean of Engineering at the University of Iowa, Associate Dean of Engineering at USC in Los Angeles, and assistant professor of engineering at UCSB in Santa Barbara.

Miller is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors, and a Member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).  He is  co-recipient of the NAE Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education twice—in 2013 and again in 2022.  He also received the 2017 Brock International Prize in Education, and the 2011 Marlowe Award from the American Society for Engineering Education.  In 2014, he received the  Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2002 he received the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award from the University of California at Davis.

Miller has served as Chair of the Board on Higher Education and Workforce of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and as Chair of the Engineering Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation (NSF).  He has also served on advisory boards and committees for Harvard University, Stanford University, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Lemelson Foundation, and others. In addition, he has served as a consultant to the World Bank in the establishment of new universities in developing countries. Miller earned his B.S at the University of California, Davis, his S.M. from MIT, and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology.

Education:

B.S. University of California Davis, USA

S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, USA

Sania Nishtar

Director, Ehsaas Program in Punjab

Dr. Sania Nishtar is a Pakistani physician, cardiologist, senator, author and activist. Currently, she is leading the Ehsaas Program in Punjab. She has served as the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety in 2021-2022. Elected to the Senate of Pakistan in 2021, she previously served in the interim Federal Cabinet of 2013 by overseeing public health, education and science.

A distinguished member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council, Dr. Nishtar has previously co-chaired the World Health Organization’s High-Level Commission on Non-Communicable Diseases and now dedicates some of her time to co-chairing the US National Academy of Sciences’ Global Study on the Quality of Healthcare (in low/middle income countries). Furthermore, Dr. Nishtar chairs the United Nations International Institute for Global Health’s International Advisory Board, and is a member of the International Advisory Board on Global Health of the German Federal Government.

Following several years as a Cardiologist at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr. Nishtar founded Heartfile in 1999. A think tank focusing on health systems issues, Dr. Nishtar further expanded the initiative in 2007 by creating the Heartfile Health Financing program which was designed to protect poor patients from medical impoverishment. Dr. Nishtar’s principle focus today lies in health sector governance.

A regular keynote speaker at international meetings, Dr. Nishtar is often invited as a thought leader at UN agencies and global conferences. Her book “Choked Pipes” was published by the Oxford University Press in 2010 and received positive reviews in The Lancet and WHO Bulletin. In addition to the publication of her other book “Chapters”, Dr. Nishtar regularly contributes to The News International, the Wall Street Journal, and Project Syndicate.

Graduating from Khyber Medical College with a degrees in Medicine and Surgery in 1986, Dr. Nishtar obtained her PhD from King’s College London before being awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and a further honorary doctorate in Science from King’s College London.

Education:

Medicine and Surgery – Khyber Medical College, Pakistan

Ph.D. Kings College London, UK

Firdausi Qadri

Senior Scientist and Director of the Center for Vaccine Science at ICDDR,B

Dr. Firdausi Qadri is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Center for Vaccine Science at ICDDR,B, an international health research organization located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dr. Qadri specializes in immunology with over 25 years of experience working on infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid and enterotoxigenic escherichia coli (E.coli). She also serves as Chairperson for the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives upon receiving the Christophe Merieux Prize in 2012 for her research on infectious enteric diseases. Her other notable research contributions are in the areas of genomics, proteomic technology and diagnostics, and vaccine development.

A founder of the Bangladesh Society of Microbiologists, Dr. Qadri is also the International Ambassador for the American Society for Microbiology in Bangladesh and a fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. In addition to being listed in the “Top 100 Asian Scientists” publication by Asian Scientist Magazine, Dr. Qadri most recently received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in August 2021.

Dr. Qadri received her BSc and MSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Dhaka in 1975 and 1977 respectively before completing her PhD in Biochemistry/Immunology in 1980 from the University of Liverpool.

Education: 

Bsc and MSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Ph.D in Biochemistry/Immunology, University of Liverpool, UK

Maryam Qudrat

Founding Director of the Writing and Communication Resource Center, California State University - Long Beach

Maryam Qudrat, Ph.D has taught in the area of Business Communications at California State University Long Beach since 2002.

She serves as the founding Director of the Writing and Communication Resource Center and works with a diverse staff of professors, high-level administrators and teaching assistants in this capacity. Currently, Maryam is working on the national e-learning initiative in Afghanistan’s higher education sector. Earlier this year, she also led a delegation of reviewers for the national accreditation process.

Dr. Qudrat has worked as an Adjunct Professor at the Rand Corporation Pardee Graduate School in Santa Monica as well as American University’s Government and Policy Department in D.C. and holds a PhD in Philosophy (political theory) from the University of Southern California (USC). In 2005, Dr. Qudrat established and directed the Social Institutions Department of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington D.C.. In 2003, Dr. Qudrat authored a book entitled Torn Between Two Cultures: An Afghan-American Woman Speaks Out. Her publication, Confronting Jihad, is published by Cambridge University Press as part of a “Hobbes Today” volume (2013).

As a commentator and spokesperson, Dr. Qudrat has appeared on CNN as well as numerous local television shows and Muslim media and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times and TIME Magazine. Maryam serves as the adviser to the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan and is a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, which is operated by the U.S. Department of State at Georgetown University.

Education:

PhD Philosophy (political theory), University of Southern California, USA

MA Philosophy, California State University – Long Beach, USA

BS Business Management, University of Phoenix, USA

Sultan Hafeez Rahman

Former Director General for South Asia, Asian Development Bank, Manila

Dr. Sultan Hafeez Rahman is a Professorial Fellow at BIGD. Formerly, he was the Executive Director of the institute. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of BRAC University and the Asian Women’s University. His research interests are in the areas of economic growth, macroeconomic policy, governance, international trade and regional integration. Before BIGD, Dr. Rahman worked at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and was the Director General of its largest regional department–South Asia. He led policy dialogue with high level officials and political leaders in ADB’s member countries and with OECD development partners; led and supervised the strategy, planning and implementation of country, sector and regional assistance programs, as well as thematic and sector studies.

Dr. Rahman started his professional career with Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) in 1975. He has published research papers on a wide range of economic and policy issues, and served as the Executive Editor of the Bangladesh Development Studies at BIDS.

He also served as a member of several high-level government, regional, and international expert panels, task forces, and committees. These include the expert panels of the 3rd, 4th and 7th Five Year Plans of Bangladesh. In addition, he was Adviser/Consultant to the Ministries of Jute, Industry, Commerce, Finance, and Planning. Dr. Rahman also served on the boards of two banks.

Dr. Rahman has worked on a wide range of developing countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and 14 Pacific Island Countries. He obtained his PhD in Development Economics from Stanford University in 1980.

Education:

PhD in Development Economics, Stanford University, US

Rae Eun Sung

President and CEO, Youngone Holdings Co Ltd

Rae Eun Sung is the President and CEO of Youngone Holdings Co., Ltd. founded in 1974 and listed on The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (“KOSPI”) since 1988. She is also the President of its subsidiary company Youngone Corporation, listed on KOSPI in 2009.

Youngone Corporation is an OEM manufacturing company servicing globally renowned brands, and engages in the retail distribution of outdoor apparel, footwear, and gear. With its first overseas plant established in Chittagong, Bangladesh, in 1980, the company now operates in Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, and El Salvador and directly employs more than 80,000 people.

Aside from her executive roles in Youngone, Rae Eun Sung is a Board Member of The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Korea Office, a Board Member of The Friends of The Asia Foundation Korea, a Vice President of The Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, and a Vice President of Korean National Ballet Society. She is also an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO Pan Asia Chapter), which is a global leadership community of chief executives.

Rae Eun Sung is a proud alumni of Fay School and Choate Rosemary Hall. She served on The Fay School Board as an International Trustee from 2012 until 2021. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Stanford University.

Education: 

B.A. in Sociology, Stanford University

Maithree Wickramasinghe

Professor of English at the University of Kelaniya

Maithree Wickramasinghe (PhD) is the Chair and Professor of English, and the founding Director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka as well as a Visiting Professor at several other universities, most notably the University of Colombo and University of Sussex.

Her work spans a number of subjects/disciplines as evinced by her numerous publications including Feminist Research Methodology – Making Meanings of Meaning Making (2010), and the pioneering Gender Dimensions in Disaster Management co-authored with Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandhu (2003/2005) (translated into Urdhu, Hindi, Tamil and Sinhala) and Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls – Gender at the Workplace (2006) co-authored with Wijaya Jayatilake and published by the International Labor Organization. She was an Associate Editor of the Wiley Blackwell Encyclopaedia on Gender and Sexuality Studies (2016) which runs into five volumes. Other work includes an influential training module An Introduction to Gender Mainstreaming Universities (2010) developed for the Association of Commonwealth Universities, UK.

An expert on gender, she is a scholar whose work interfaces research, teaching/training, policy development, evaluation, advocacy, and activism. She counts over thirty years of experience in formulating gender equity and equality polices/strategies, conducting gender sensitization trainings and evaluating women’s and gender programs for local and international organizations. Professor Wickramasinghe has been a frequent keynote speaker at various conferences organized by academic and professional institutions locally and internationally.

An English graduate of King’s College London, Professor Wickramasinghe went on to complete her MA in Women’s Studies at the University of Colombo before gaining her PhD from the Institute of Education at the University of London.

Education

BA in English, King’s College London, UK

MA in Women’s Studies, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Ph.D. University of London, UK

Meredith Woo

President, Sweet Briar College

Professor Meredith Woo is the 13th President of Sweet Briar College. Prior to this appointment, Professor Woo served as Director of the Higher Education Support Program of Open Society Foundations, the Buckner W. Clay Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia, and Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan. Professor Woo has also taught at Northwestern University and Columbia University. She briefly worked as a Visiting Scholar at the Japan Ministry of Finance.

Professor Woo’s academic work focuses on comparative international politics with a focus on East Asia. She has produced six books, numerous scholarly articles, and an award-winning film that premiered at the Smithsonian Institution in 2006.

Education:

PhD Political Science, Columbia University, USA

MA International Affairs, Columbia University, USA

BA, Bowdoin College, USA

Md Abu Bakr Siddique

Secretary, Secondary and Higher Education Division, Ministry of Education

Secretary of Education in the Government of Bangladesh serves as an ex-officio member.

Masud Bin Momen

Foreign Secretary, Government of Bangladesh

Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Bangladesh serves as an ex-officio member.

Rubana Huq

Vice Chancellor, Asian University for Women

Dr. Huq who earned wide prominence as the first female president of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA), is a published poet who earned her PhD in Literature from India’s Jadavpur University.  Dr. Huq has been a trustee of AUW and, was more recently, elected as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees.  She was instrumental in launching AUW’s Pathways for Promise program that enables exceptionally talented workers from Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) factories to enroll at AUW.  She was named as one of BBC’s top 100 women in the world in 2013 and again in 2014.  Dr. Huq is currently also a Visiting Fellow at the Stern School of Business at New York University and the Asia Center at Harvard University.