Keynotes

Adil Najam is Dean Emeritus and Professor of International Relations and of Earth and Environment at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, where he served as the founding Dean from 2014 to 2022. Since July 2023, he has also served as President of WWF International. He holds a PhD in Environmental Policy from MIT. He previously served as Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and as Director of the Boston University Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and has taught at MIT and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Professor Najam was a co-author for the Third and Fourth Assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), work for which the panel was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He has been conferred two of the highest civil awards of Pakistan, the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (2010) and the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (2023). His research and teaching focus on global public policy, especially global climate change, South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and conservation, and human development.

Professor Iwi Ugiagbe-Green is Professor (Equity in Education), MBA (part-time) Programme Leader and Academic Director of STRIVE at Manchester Metropolitan University, based in the Department of Finance and Economics. An inter-disciplinary researcher spanning the social sciences (education, sociology) and applied sciences (accounting), Professor Ugiagbe-Green's expertise lies in racialised experience, equity in education, graduate employability and work-readiness, and ethnicity and gender representation on executive boards. Teaching practice is anchored in the African philosophy of Ubuntu and centres on relational, compassionate, anti-racism and care-based pedagogies. Professor Ugiagbe-Green was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2025 in recognition of impact on addressing inequalities and differential outcomes in education, and has also received the Wonkhe Award for Student Experience (2019) and an Outstanding Achievement award at the Students' Union Teaching Awards (2024), the latter in recognition of the impact of STRIVE, Manchester Met's flagship programme to enhance the success of its racially diverse student population. Professor Ugiagbe-Green chairs the National Education Opportunities Network (NEON) Careers and Employability in PG workstream and is Vice Chair of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Diversity Special Interest Group.