NUS Prof among three recipients to win Aspen award

SINGAPORE - Associate Professor Ishtiaq Pasha Mahmood from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School has become the first person at a Singapore university to win the prestigious Aspen Faculty Pioneer Award.

The award recognises educators who integrate social and environmental issues into their academic research, educational programmes and business ethics. Prof Mahmood won the award in the Rising Star category.

Prof Mahmood is from the business school's Department of Strategy and Policy and researches on ways to help firms transit from being imitators to innovators.

The educator said that the Aspen award has inspired him to think about how he can use his teaching to solve real-life problems.

Dubbed "the Oscars of the business school world" by The Financial Times, the award has only three recipients this year.

Ms Claire Preisser, manager of the Faculty Pioneer Awards selection process said the committee selected him for bringing the public-private interface into the classroom in interesting ways.

She commends Prof Mahmood for challenging students to think about how businesses and governments can affect "big issues of our day" such as "economic growth, climate change or access to healthcare and education."

debwong@sph.com.sg