Renowned Pakistani businessman, philanthropist and educationist Syed Babar Ali has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Art and Sciences in recognition of his efforts for establishing Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) a premier business institution of Pakistan.
Syed Babar Ali was born in 1927 in Lahore. At the time, his father Syed Muratib Ali owned a small shop in the Walled City of Lahore. Later in his life, his father became a top contractor of the British Indian army supplying them with services like logistics and all sorts of items used in regiments and the money he earned was used to invest in land.
He got his education from Aitchison College in Lahore. He went to the Michigan University at Ann Arbor until 1947 for further studies when he moved to newly-created state Pakistan.
He completed his graduation from Punjab University (PU). He also briefly studied at Harvard School of Business, which later helped him in creating a business institution in Pakistan.
He created and grew Packages Ltd, Milkpak Ltd, Tri-pack Films, and the IGI Group. He brought several foreign companies to Pakistan, including Nestle (Switzerland), Tetrapak (Sweden) and serves on the board of Coca Cola Pakistan, Siemens Pakistan, and Sanofi-Aventis.
Syed Babar Ali also promoted the cause of the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature where he served in various positions, both in Pakistan and internationally, from 1972 to 1996. He was the international president of WWF from 1996 to 1999, succeeding Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.