Alumni Board Goes Global to Pick New President
SHIRAZI: Predicts that HBS graduates will hold top leadership positions in more than two dozen nations over the next thirty years.
Photo by Tom Fitzsimmons
Saquib Shirazi (MBA ’95), CEO of Atlas Honda in Karachi, Pakistan, takes globetrotting in stride. A member of the HBS Alumni Association board of directors since 2002, he has perfected a technique for shaking off the lethargy of 22-hour flights to Boston — a six-mile run shortly after touching down at Logan Airport. He’ll be clocking a lot more after-flight miles over the next two years as he steps into the role of Alumni Association president.
Shirazi is only the second Alumni Association president from outside the United States, the first being Peter Cooper (MBA ’75), from Toronto, who just completed his two-year stint. As HBS approaches its Centennial celebration next year, Shirazi says that the board’s choice of an alum from Asia underscores the School’s commitment to a global mission. “I see a shift in emphasis from the School making a difference inside the borders of the United States to making a difference around the globe,” he notes. That commitment is evident, he points out, in the number of international students enrolled in the MBA and Executive Education programs — one-third and one-half, respectively — and the School’s five global research centers.
The cumulative impact of the School’s global outreach will be unmistakable, says Shirazi. “Over the next twenty to thirty years,” he predicts, “leadership positions in more than two dozen countries will be filled by HBS graduates.”
Looking back on his experience at HBS, Shirazi says that a commitment to service is one of the enduring lessons imparted by Dean John McArthur. “He would have breakfast with a student every day at 7 a.m. in Shad,” Shirazi recalls. “Dean McArthur would explain that there are three stages in life: twenty years devoted to learning; twenty years devoted to earning; and twenty years devoted to serving. That advice really stuck with us.”
“Becoming a board member was the beginning of serving the School,” he adds, “and it continues now with becoming president. Whether we do it for the School, our country, or our communities, serving is an important part of the mission of HBS grads.”
Back in Karachi, where he lives with his wife and four-year-old daughter, Shirazi heads a joint venture with Honda that produces and sells vehicles throughout the country. Despite the long Boston-bound flights, Shirazi regards the trips to HBS as “a refreshing break.” “It’s a way to keep up with what’s happening on campus.”
