USQ professor reflects on time as President of the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences

Professor Shahjahan Khan has stepped down from his role as President of the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences after six years

University of Southern Queensland Professor of Statistics Shahjahan Khan has stepped down from his position as the President of the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences (ISOSS) after six years in the role.

Professor Khan said the ISOSS, a global body of professional statisticians, played a crucial role in shaping his professional position and global perspectives on statistics.

‘The responsibilities of the ISOSS President were to lead the international professional organisation at the global level, promote its activities, attract membership, oversee management, organise biennial international conferences, deal with other international organisations with similar objectives and activities, collect sponsorship and build and enhance reputation,’ Professor Khan said.

‘I took over the position in 2005 and replaced the Founding President Dr Munir Ahmed who held the position since 1988.’

The new President of the society will be Professor Ali Haidi of the American University of Cairo in Egypt and Stephen Weiss, Presidential Fellow and Professor Emeritus at Cornell University in America.

‘When I took over, ISOSS was a regional organisation and facing problems with attracting venues and sponsors to organise international conferences.

‘I took the role as a challenge and organised very successful conferences in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Cairo, Egypt and Lahore, Pakistan.

‘I enjoyed the interaction with leading scientists of the world and productive communication with so many professional colleagues in academia, industry, government offices and in the media.’

As President, Professor Khan oversaw the planning, design, construction and February 2001 opening of the ISOSS House in its headquarters in Lahore, Pakistan.

‘I am very pleased with to leave ISOSS leadership at a time when ISOSS is best placed as a highly regarded international body of statisticians of all backgrounds, regardless of nationality, gender, race or religion,’ Professor Khan said.

‘I have been able to create momentum among the membership and peers and I am confident this will help move the society further, as new leadership is likely to bring new ideas and initiatives.’

Professor Khan said he had numerous highlights from his time as President, including engaging with statisticians in South East Asia and in the Arab world as well as statisticians from outside Islamic countries and bringing ISOSS to the global stage alongside other international professional statistical organisations.

‘In addition to the promotion of the value of statistics, we built the ISOSS into an institute for excellence of statistical learning and teaching by producing high quality statisticians through undergraduate and postgraduate programs in statistics,’ he said.

Contact Details:
Callum Johnson, USQ Media, +61 7 46 31 1163