History
UIT had its genesis due to an endowment from the Hasham family of the Memon community in remembrance of Mohammad Usman Hasham, son of Haji Hasham, a tycoon and a philanthropist.
Haji Hasham started his business carrier at the age of 11 in India early in 20th century. After moving to Karachi in 1936, he started to expand his business. Industrial concerns like Mehran Sugar Mills, Mogul Tobacco, Pakistan Molasses Company, Usman Textile were part of his business. His sons had a desire to do something for the welfare of the community. Among his sons was a student of Dr. Manzoor Ahmad, a scholar and Dean of the Department of Philosophy at Karachi University. Usman was influenced by Dr. Manzoor's philosophy and shared his humanist values.
Usman passed away in 1973 at the age of 38 due to brain haemorrhage. However, his father and brothers, wanting to keep his memory alive, decided to make Usman's dreams a reality. Following the advice of Usman’s mentor, Dr. Manzoor Ahmad and with the patronage of lawyer and writer, late Mr. A.K. Brohi, the ‘Usman Memorial Foundation’ was founded in 1973. Mr. Brohi agreed to be the President and Dr. Manzoor Ahmad was requested to be General Secretary of the Foundation.
The Foundation organized lectures by scholars, established a library and offered research scholarships. The Foundation acquired a piece of land in 1976 on the University Road to establish an educational institution.
Eventually at the suggestion of Mr. Ebrahim Hasham and with the financial assistance of the Hasham Family, the Usman Institute of Technology was established in 1995 in affiliation with Technical University of Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1997, Usman Memorial Foundation signed an Agreement with Hamdard University for awarding their degrees to UIT students. Dr. Manzoor Ahmad, was made the Life Chairman of the Executive Board of UIT.
Read more about this topic: Usman Institute Of Technology
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The visual is sorely undervalued in modern scholarship. Art history has attained only a fraction of the conceptual sophistication of literary criticism.... Drunk with self-love, criticism has hugely overestimated the centrality of language to western culture. It has failed to see the electrifying sign language of images.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“To history therefore I must refer for answer, in which it would be an unhappy passage indeed, which should shew by what fatal indulgence of subordinate views and passions, a contest for an atom had defeated well founded prospects of giving liberty to half the globe.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)