Sir David’s exceptional scholarly achievements have been duly recognized, leading to his appointment as an Honorary Fellow at the University of Cambridge via its Centre for Resilience and Sustainable Development (CRSD) in January 2024.
Professor Nazia M Habib, Founder and Director of the CRSD, expressed the institution’s admiration, stating, “Sir David’s remarkable academic accomplishments and profound scholarly pursuits have garnered the attention of our esteemed establishment. We eagerly anticipate the intellectual contributions he could offer to our closely-knit academic community.”
Dedicated to fostering sustainable, equitable, and resilient futures, the CRSD empowers diverse stakeholders to effect transformative change on a large scale within their respective systems. By facilitating and accelerating the development of innovative approaches to global challenges, they utilize interdisciplinary tools and methodologies drawn from systems thinking and social sciences to catalyze and institutionalize transformation.
The Khalili Foundation extends its support to the CRSD’s Deliberative Space project, which aims to explore faith-inspired deliberation for peacebuilding, ultimately informing the development of a new deliberation model for the Commonwealth’s peacebuilding endeavors.
This appointment further solidifies Sir David’s longstanding affiliations with prestigious academic institutions worldwide. He boasts a rich academic background, having served as a graduate, Associate Research Professor, and Honorary Fellow of the University of London. Additionally, he holds the distinction of being the longest-serving governor in the history of SOAS. Further accolades include his status as an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Oxford, where he also serves as a Member of the Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors. In recognition of his contributions to the arts, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts London in May 2005. In the United States, he was appointed to the International Board of Overseers at Tufts University in 1997 and received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Boston University in 2003, where he also served as a member of the Board of Governors.
