|
Adil Najam among Nobel award winners
Islamabad, Oct 27: Pakistani Professor Adil Najam, now teaching at the Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA, is among the team of
scientists and experts in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
that shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Prof Adil Najam did much of his
schooling in Islamabad, at the Islamabad College for Boys (ICB) G-6. Before that
he also studied at St Mary's Academy, Rawalpindi, and St Patrick's High School,
Karachi.
Before embarking to the US to pursue higher studies and taking
up the teaching profession there, Adil Najam remained associated with the now
defunct 'The Muslim' in the early 1980s as a 'Sports Reporter'.
He
covered a number of international cricket series played all over Pakistan during
the 1980s and was considered an expert on cricket affairs. Later, he wrote
extensively on the environmental issues in different newspapers of Pakistan as
well.
Dr Adil Najam holds a doctorate and two Masters degrees from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a specialisation in negotiation
from Harvard Law School, and an engineering degree from UET, Lahore. He has
taught at MIT, at Boston University, at University of Massachusetts and
currently at Tufts University. He has also been awarded MIT's Goodwin Medal for
Teaching, the Paddock Teaching Award of the Fletcher School, and Stein Rokan
Award of the International Studies Association.
When asked, Prof Najam
said that his early education in Pakistan, especially at ICB, Islamabad, and
then at the University of Engineering at Lahore laid the foundation of his
academic career." These institutions gave me an outlook on life and taught me
well enough that I have never had any problems adjusting to even the most
prestigious universities in the world."
The 2007 Peace Prize, announced
in Stockholm, Sweden, this month includes a gold medal and $1.5 million, is to
be shared between the IPCC scientific panel and former US Vice President Al Gore
for enhancing the understanding of the science of climate change. The IPCC is a
panel of the world's most eminent and leading scientists working on global
warming and it produces its scientific assessment every 4-5 years. These
assessments, especially the most recent one on which Prof Najam was a Convening
Lead Author, have been influential in moving global climate policy, including
changes in US and other country positions on the subject.
Prof Adil Najam
has served as an expert on this prestigious panel for 8 years, and as a
Convening Lead Author for its most recent report. Along with other scientists on
the panel he helped shape the findings of the IPCC, especially on issues related
sustainable development and other developing country interests.
When
asked to comment on the Nobel award, Dr Najam stressed that this honour was not
for any individual but for the IPCC as an institution and is shared for the
scientific work done by a large number of experts from around the world. He also
said that the last few Nobel Peace Awards, including those for Wangari Maathai
(Kenya, 2004) and Mohammad Younas (Bangladesh, 2007) shows "an acknowledgement
that environmental and poverty issues are being accepted as amongst the greatest
threats to global peace and security." He added that "what the Nobel committee
has really done is to award the prize to the issue of global climate
change." The News
|
