Dr. Frank F. Islam conferred with ‘Imtiaz-e-Jamia'

Dr. Frank F. Islam delivering a lecture during the ceremony 

Jamia Millia Islamia, on 13^th February 2017, conferred its highest award, ‘Imtiaz-e-Jamia’ to Dr. Frank F. Islam, U.S. based Entrepreneur, Philanthropist & Civic Leader of Indian origin for his outstanding contributions to public service.

Mr. Talat Ahmad giving the award to Mr. Frank F. Islam

The award for ‘Global Ambassador of Education’ was conferred on Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi of Indian origin for successful Entrepreneur and Promoter of Education for his outstanding contributions to community service. The function was presided over by Prof. Talat Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor, JMI.

Delivering a lecture on ‘Empowerment, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship’, Dr. Frank F. Islam, after receiving the honor, said that the world needed more leaders and entrepreneurs to make a difference.

Coining the concept of a ‘virtuous organization’, Dr. Islam added that it had three distinguishing features, namely, a navigator, a capital creator, and a value the generator which adds value by behaving in a socially responsible and ethical behavior while working to produce spiritual and intellectual capital. He said that the world needed many virtuous organizations to tide over several problems that it is faced with.

Calling Jamia Millia Islamia’s newly established Livelihood Business Incubator (LBI) under the Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) an example of leadership created by the university, he asked the students to ‘think big’ and learn from the example of Google, Microsoft, and Facebook which show the power of young innovative minds.

Dr. Islam added that a large number of globally leading enterprises have been started by immigrants and Indians which was an encouraging trend. He asked the students to draw lessons from the career of Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, Satya Narayana Nadella who is an Indian American.

Dr. Frank  F. Islam

Recalling the story of his own success as a boy born into a middle-class religious family of Azamgarh who crossed the Atlantic to pursue the American dream, he said that his success as an entrepreneur can be attributed to passion, persistence, tenacity, and sacrifice.

Underscoring the importance of interfaith leadership, he said that all faiths teach equality, dignity, and tolerance, and therefore interfaith bridges were an important need of the hour, especially in a diverse country like India.

Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi asked the students to focus on education said that leading universities in the U.S. like Harvard and MIT have formed an alliance like www.edx.org that offers nearly 600 courses free of cost and students must take advantage of these opportunities. Mr. Rizvi who is based-Boston said that through Sir Syed Emerging Scholar Award (SSESA) they were helping needy students to pursue their studies in the U.S.

Source: Press release (JMI) 

All photos by "Mohsin Javed"