Dr. J. Robert Buchanan, 85, has devoted the majority of his retirement to helping establish Western-quality health care services and health professions education programs in Pakistan, Afghanistan and East Africa through 25-plus years working with the Aga Khan Development Network. In December 2012, a major lecture hall at the Aga Khan University was dedicated to and named for Dr. Buchanan.

In the early ‘80s, as CEO of Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. J. Robert Buchanan accepted an invitation to become a founding member of an international board of trustees for Aga Khan University (AKU) in Karachi, Pakistan. The university is being developed by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of development agencies working to improve opportunities and living conditions in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa (www.akdn.org). AKDN is headed by His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, spiritual leader of 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims living in more than 25 countries on four continents.

Dr. Buchanan states: “I chose to devote the majority of my time to Aga Khan University because I wanted to contribute where I could do so most significantly. My work there embodies my two areas of professional engagement – health professions education and health services delivery. It also serves my general interest in education. The board has established the AKU Institute for Educational Development to improve teacher education in the developing world. I am enthusiastic about participating in the establishment of a Faculty of Arts and Sciences to add liberal arts education on two, new 1000-acre campuses - one in the desert outside of Karachi and the other in Arusha, Tanzania.”

The board of trustees functions through committees which give oversight to projects, market feasibility, facilities and human resources. In December 2012, a major lecture hall at the university was dedicated to and named for Dr. Buchanan.

Dr. Buchanan also brought his considerable experience to the upgrading of a 200-bed hospital in Nairobi, a part of AKU. He says “The plan is to make it a major teaching hospital that meets high Western standards with all modalities of general and specialty care. We expect that the enlarged and improved hospital will serve the local community and act as the hub of a referral system network in East Africa. It will also be the location of the university’s regional health education programs, continuing education for practicing health care providers and a major biomedical research base.”

“The Aga Khan a visionary who embraces his faith as one of tolerance, compassion and upholding the dignity of men and women,” says Dr. Buchanan. “He believes that people will never be able to come together unless they are better educated and ignorance is diminished. Without quality health care, education and economic development services, conditions will exist for extremist influences to take hold.”

After 25-plus years working with the Aga Khan Development Network Dr. Buchanan shares “People need to appreciate that most Muslims are much like you and me—not radical in their beliefs or practices. The AKDN represents a centrist organization in ethics, values, commitment to personal freedom. It has been an honor to be a part of its work.”