Congratulations to Mitchell Institute International Advisory Board member, Ambassador Akbar S. Ahmed, who received an Award from the Pakistani American Press Association (PAPA) for promoting peace and harmony through interfaith dialogue.

PAPA is considered one of the most distinguished press organizations in the west.  It consists of a diverse group of mainly Pakistani journalists working with the top Pakistani media like the Dawn e-paper and American media such as the Voice of America.

On 5 October 2024, Ambassador Ahmed was presented with the Award at an event organized for the new Ambassador as chief guest.

Ambassador Ahmed is Distinguished Professor and the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University and a Wilson Center Global Fellow in Washington, D.C.  He was Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland.

Highlights from the past four decades of Ahmed’s academic career include appointments such as: Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; the First Distinguished Chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD; the Iqbal Fellow and Fellow of Selwyn College at the University of Cambridge (Iqbal Chair of Pakistan Studies); and teaching positions at Harvard and Princeton Universities.  He has also won the Star of Pakistan award, the inaugural Gandhi Peace Award and with Professor Judea Pearl the inaugural Purpose Prize.

On 24 October 2024, Ambassdor Ahmed delivered the keynote address at an annual event in New Jersey in honor of the great Islamic scholar Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.  The event was organised by the Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of New Jersey and Pennsylvania to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sir Syed.

Read more here.

Furthermore, on 30 October 2024, a screening of the movie based on Ambassador Ahmed’s play ‘Gandhi and Jinnah return Home’ was shown at SOAS, University of London.

Directed by Manjula Kumar, this play brings together the lives and legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, two influential figures in the history of the Indian subcontinent.  The production, written by Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, is a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of their stories, delving into their experiences, beliefs, and interactions.