The Founding Rector

(27 Feb 1991 – 10 Jul 2007)

Lieutenant General (Retired) Syed Shujaat Hussain, founded NUST by combining the core competencies of military academic institutions and civilian academia. His career including tenures in civil bureaucracy, command of Frontier Works Organization and as Engineer-in-Chief of Pakistan Army; gave him the necessary experience to envision and actualize a high-quality higher education institution.

He laid the foundation of NUST in 1991 by putting together 6 technical colleges of Army, Navy and PAF. He also initiated raising of 15 highly specialized centers of excellence in phases, for interdisciplinary research in relevant fields including defence technology, with the help of Royal Military College of Sciences (RMCS) UK.

He was able to weld diverse components of NUST into a homogeneous entity beyond the two broad categories of military-civil, to create a common mindset that is open, analytical, innovative, creative and knowledge driven.

Acquisition of H-12 Sector for NUST’s Main Campus and the laying down of a very strong foundation for the university’s development, based on the culture of merit and quality was yet another feather in his cap. With his visionary and dynamic leadership, he created an ecosystem that has enabled NUST to grow in size, quality and stature over the years.

For his outstanding contributions towards the establishment and growth of NUST, he was awarded ‘Hilal-e-Imtiaz’ by the President of Pakistan on 14 Aug 2007.

Naming the university’s Main Office after him is a humble expression of gratitude for his monumental contributions to the present and future generations of Pakistan, which will continue to benefit from the educational excellence of NUST.