Adil Najam

Biography

Dr. Adil Najam (عادل نجم) is the inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University which was founded in 2014 with a $25 million gift from BU alum Frederick S. Pardee. He is also a Professor of International Relations and of Earth and Environment. Earlier, Prof. Adil Najam served as Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore, Pakistan and as the Director of the Boston University Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. In addition to Boston University, Prof. Najam has taught at MIT and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. His research focuses on issues of global public policy, especially those related to global climate change, South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and development, and human development. Prof. Najam was a co-author for the Third and Fourth Assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); work for which the scientific panel was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the public understanding of climate change science. In 2008 he was invited by the United Nations Secretary General to serve on the UN Committee on Development (CDP). He was a member of the President of Pakistan’s Special Task Force on Human Development (2001) and served on Pakistan’s Presidential Commission on Higher Education (2002). In 2010 he was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence), one of Pakistan’s highest civil awards by the President of Pakistan. Dr. Najam has written over 100 scholarly papers and book chapters. His recent books include: South Asia 2060: Envisioning Regional Futures (2013); How Immigrants Impact their Homelands (2013); The Future of South-South Economic Relations (2012); Envisioning a Sustainable Development Agenda for Trade and Environment (2007); Trade and Environment: A Resourcebook (2007); Pakistanis in America: Portrait of a Giving Community (2006); Global Environmental Governance: A Reform Agenda (2006); Environment, Development and Human Security: Perspectives from South Asia (2003); and Civic Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development (2002). He is a past winner of MIT’s Goodwin Medal for Effective Teaching, the Fletcher School Paddock Teaching Award, and the Stein Rokan Award of the International Political Science Association, the ARNOVA Emerging Scholar Award, and the Pakistan Television Medal for Outstanding Achievement. In 2011, he was elected a Trustee on the International Board of WWF; and in 2013 elected a Trustee of The Asia Foundation (TAF). He is the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Switzerland-based Luc Hoffmann Institute. He has been a Council Member of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna, Austria; and was the Board Chair of the South Asia Network of Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE). He is also a past Board Chair of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), Pakistan. Dr. Najam has also served on the Academic Council of the South Asian University (SAU), New Delhi, India and the Syndicate (Board) of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore, Pakistan. He continues to serve as a Board’s Visiting Committee member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prof. Najam is frequently interviewed by and writes for the popular media and is the founding editor of the award-winning blog Pakistaniat.com.

Research Interest

International Negotiation; Sustainable Development; Human Development and Human Security; International Environmental Politics; Politics of the Muslim World; Politics of South Asia.