Shahid Khan Delivers University Commencement Address
At the AHS Convocation Ceremony on May 11, Dean Tanya Gallagher presented Shahid Khan with a keepsake album of photos showing the many ways his support has benefitted students, faculty, and staff in Applied Health Sciences.
Flex-N-Gate owner, University of Illinois alumnus, and longtime supporter of the College of Applied Health Sciences Shahid Khan spoke to graduates at two campus-wide ceremonies on May 12. Khan, who completed an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering in 1971, urged graduates not to take the easy road to success. To those who are committed to “creating their own path, their own job, their own future,” he said, “As creators, you will face hardship, uncertainty, but in the end reap unimaginable awards.”
Khan also encouraged students to dream big and work hard, despite any challenges they may face. “Whether you are foreign born like me or sons and daughters of Illinois, the American dream belongs to everyone and all of you have the opportunity and the obligation to seize all that it has to offer,” he said. “You cannot aspire to anything less. You cannot settle for anything less, and you cannot accept the inevitability of being told no.”
Khan had also been honored at the Convocation of the College of Applied Health Sciences on May 11. Through their foundation, he and his wife Ann Carlson Khan have endowed five professorships in Applied Health Sciences and underwrote the costs of adding more than 24,000 square feet of instructional and research space to Huff Hall, known as the Khan Annex. The annex houses the Center on Health, Aging, and Disability, faculty office and research space, classrooms, and more. Dean Tanya Gallagher presented Shahid Khan with a keepsake album of photos showing the many ways in which the Khan Annex is used to the benefit of students, faculty, and staff in Applied Health Sciences.