Asian University for Women (AUW)

Asian University for Women (AUW) was conceived by Kamal Ahmad when he was himself an undergraduate at Harvard College in the mid-1980s. However, it was the World Bank/UNESCO Task Force on Higher Education & Society that provided him with a springboard to launch the idea. An International Support Committee for the Asian University for Women was set up with Task Force Member and First Lady of Denmark Lone Dybkjaer as Co-Chair. Boston philanthropist Charles E. Merrill, Jr. provided an initial grant to help develop the concept further. Once the AUW Support Foundation was established, a series of studies were conducted to develop academic, organizational and financial plans for the University which ultimately culminated in the publication in 2005 of AUW’s Plan of Operations.