His Excellency Emeritus Prof. Dr. Ishrat Husain is the Chairman of Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) – the oldest graduate business school in Karachi, Pakistan, established in 1955.

He previously served as Dean & Director at the Institute. During his term of office, he was actively engaged in the transformation of the Institute to become one of the ranking Global Business schools.

He also served as the Chairman, National Commission for Government Reforms for two years from 2006 to 2008 with the status of Federal Minister reporting directly to the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan.

H.E. Dr. Husain was appointed the Governor of Pakistan’s Central Bank in December 1999 where during his next six years term, he implemented a major programme of restructuring of the Central Bank and steered the reforms of the banking sector. As a member of the economic management team of the Government, he also played a key role in the impressive economic turnaround of Pakistan. During his term, the SBP became a Founding Member of the IFSB.

H.E. Dr. Husain has also had a distinguished career at several institutions and has held key positions at the World Bank and the international financial arena. Upon his retirement, he continues serving his country at both national and international levels including in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

H.E. Dr. Ishrat Husain obtained a Master’s degree in Development Economics from Williams College and a Doctorate in Economics from Boston University in 1978. He is a graduate of Executive Development Programme jointly sponsored by Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD.

In recognition of his meritorious services he was conferred the prestigious award of “Hilal-e-Imtiaz” by the President of Pakistan in 2003. The Banker Magazine of London declared him as the Central Bank Governor of the year for Asia in 2005. He received the Asian Banker Lifetime achievement award in 2006.