Presiding over the eighteenth convocation of the Aga Khan University, Chancellor of the University His Highness Aga Khan, announced the retirement of the first president of the University, Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, and introduced his successor Firoz Rasul who would assume the office on May 1, 2006.
His Highness Aga Khan while reading his speech and still had to go two more pages announced the change. Lakha steps down from the leadership of the AKU after many years of service. He chaired the committee that designed and constructed the campus from 1979-1985, led the commissioning and became the first head of the AKUH in 1985. He became president of the University in 2000.
Rasul is a member of the Board of Governor of the University of British Columbia. He has overseen the establishment of the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa and the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre in Toronto. He is also a leading Canadian entrepreneur, having built up a number of enterprises, most recently Ballard Power System, an innovator in hydrogen fuel cell technology.
The Chancellor said, "Kassim-Lakha and Rasul would be working closely together in the coming months and that Rasul would soon be visiting the University's international sites, to ensure that the transition of leadership would maintain institutional momentum."