ZARA QIZILBASH:
FIRST FEMALE REGISTRAR OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
Louisa Neill, LVI and Jiayi (Ariel) Cao, LVI
Zara Qizilbash is the first female registrar of one of the top universities in Pakistan, known informally as LUMS. She studied condensed matter physics at the University of Oxford and is now a mentor, a supporter of women in STEM in Pakistan and a Governor of Roedean School in Brighton.
The idea was to have a transdisciplinary school where people could take subjects across all majors. It was sort of American in its concept. We wanted to help [students] so that they would still have careers 40 years after they graduated. So, I worked there and then I ended up heading the academic affairs for the whole school, which had majors in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science and electrical engineering, and so I worked eight years and after that I felt that things had become quite stable and I had the opportunity to work on a tech start-up with my brother, which was a an E-procurement platform called KHAREED, which was very new at that time because it was all about transparency and the corporate marketplace, so that was very exciting. I did that for four years and then I was asked by LUMS to consider coming back as the Registrar because they wanted the office to be looked at full time.
LOUISA: IF YOU WOULDN’T MIND, COULD YOU START OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF?
I’m very fond of the university and working in an academic environment. There are so many bright young people around and you learn so much from your peers as well. I also had the opportunity to work with the Punjab government. Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan. I worked with them in a project called Women in Leadership where they were looking to identify women who were professional and who could join public sector boards to influence decision making to make a difference to the lives of women in different areas. I’m now in a few public sector boards, including the Queen Mary College Lahore, which is a very old institution, and we are working to improve the quality of education for young women there and trying to see if we can turn it into a university.
Zara: I’m based in Lahore, Pakistan, and I’m currently the Registrar at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. It was set up in the 80s and it’s one of the best universities in Pakistan and South Asia and it’s grown to encompass the School of Science and Engineering, School of Management, School of Arts and Humanities, School of Education and School of Law. I’m honoured to be the first female registrar of this university. It’s a demanding job. [I grew] up in Pakistan, but I went to Roedean School, Brighton for my A Levels. And after that I was admitted to the University of Oxford, Somerville College. I did my degree in Physics there specialising in condensed matter physics. One of my main passions is to encourage more young women to take up science and engineering subjects, although of course the humanities are equally important. When I went back to Pakistan there were not that many opportunities for women in physics. It was like a sort of closed door. So, I joined the family business where I could use some technical skills. I was lucky enough to be asked to join the Lahore School of Science and Engineering when it was being set up in the year 2007. There were not that many experimental physicists at that time in Pakistan and they asked me to help work on the physics lab. So that was very exciting, and I joined and then it just grew and grew, and it was a start-up.
In my spare time I talk about STEM and the importance of women in science. I’m a proponent of science for women and men. I don’t really distinguish, but I do understand that women are less privileged.
ARIEL: YOU’VE CLEARLY HAD A VERY VARIED CAREER. ARE THERE ANY BIG MOMENTS IN YOUR JOB THAT MAKE YOU FEEL GLAD THAT YOU’RE WORKING IN THIS FIELD? Zara: When I’m able to make a difference in somebody’s life. For example, students come to me, and they have some problems or something that I can help with, and then they write back and thank me. It’s that feeling that you’re making a difference. It’s not just a desk job. When you say registrar, it sounds like, “Whoa, what is she doing?”
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