New York Alumni Meeting

1. Shaukat Aziz (Class of '69), Executive Vice President Citibank, hosted the first IBA Alumni meeting of the New York Region on April 4, 1998. Forty five alumni participated in the dinner-dialogue that have set the stage for future meetings and exchanges between the alumni spread across North America. The alumni represented a diverse group in terms of age, experience and year of graduation (the earliest being from the Class of '63 and the latest from the Class of '93!). A nostalgic feeling and an informal atmosphere pervaded the meeting, providing the members an opportunity to network and exchange anecdotes about their days at the IBA. The Canadian contingent was particularly conspicuous by their presence and for the work they have done in organising similar meetings in Canada and maintaining the IBA web site on the Internet.

2. The host and several other members spoke on the occasion which led to surfacing of some useful ideas. They are:

a) In order for the North America alumni to be effective in serving the IBA, they need encouragement from the Management of IBA. It was apparent that the alumni wanted very much to help their alma mater but they didn't want to do anything that could in anyway be perceived as an unwanted interference in the affairs of the IBA. It was decided that this should be communicated to the Board of Governors and the Director and management of the IBA. Once the Management requested the alumni, the following could be done:

(i) a tax-exempt not-for-profit alumni association will be constituted in the U.S.A. and Canada in order to maximise member contributions.

(ii) books and magazines could be sent to the IBA library.

(iii) alumni visiting Karachi could exchange ideas with the students and faculty of IBA in a formal setting on an ongoing basis thus promoting a better understanding of business developments and trends in each of their countries.

(iv) alumni could help in identifying eligible candidates for visiting professorships to the IBA.

(b) alumni organisation in North America fills members' real need to network and to help new immigrants in their settling-in process.

(c) regional meetings like the present one and those being regularly organised in Toronto should also be held in other regional centres like Chicago and Los Angeles. Once there exist strong grass roots organisations, a North America-wide meeting that will link the efforts of all these local chapters will make a lot of sense. Finally, North American alumni expressed a wish to be an extension of the MBAians in Pakistan, that is, a North America chapter of the Pakistani Alumni Association.

(3) Tasnim Shaheryar in Manhattan, New York (Tel # 212 829 0016; Fax # 212 588 9078; Email: tasnim@aol.com) and Amin Saleh in Toronto, Canada (Tel # 416 325 8754; Fax # 416 204 6668; Email: asaleh@ofina.on.ca) will be the contact persons in North America for maintaining member directories and funnelling member suggestions and issues.

(written by Tasnim Shaheryar)

Mr. Shaukat Aziz was the gracious host and Sheryar and Tasnim Azhar were the motivated organizers for the April 4, 1998 IBA Alumni Meeting in New York. More than 40 graduates, from cities accross USA and Canada were present. The members present were unanimous about IBA graduate playing an active role in contributing towards the improvement of the educational standards at IBA. The frame of reference for such support were outlined as under:

1) While the group would be more than happy to assist IBA in the fields of curriculum design, upgrading library facilities, ongoing visiting professors, etc. it would be looking for absolute support from the IBA management (at both operating and policy levels).

2) Although support might be requested in a number of fields, it would be important to limit the scope of assistance, to one or two objectives, in order to have the maximum impact. Support for scholarships were not recommended as a well organized Qarz-e-Hasana scheme was available. It was also suggested that members planning to take vacation in Karachi should intimate (atleast four weeks in advance) IBA management in Karachi, so that their services as a visiting professor may be utilized.

3) The support would be made available, by creating a tax-exempt entity that would be used to generate resources to carry out the required assistance.

4) The group will enlist Corporate support to create partnerships and enhance the scope of assistance.

5) While direct support would be preferred, it is recognized that indirect support (through MBAians) may be more productive and expedient.

6) The group will maintain regular contacts with the managing body of the MBAians as well as local chapters in Illinois and California

7) The group will undertake in maintaining and publishing the database related to IBA graduate overseas and as such will have Shehyar Azhar in New York and Amin Saleh in Toronto as the key contact persons.