Notable Alumni – KGS – Karachi Grammar School

Notable
Alumni

KGS alumni have found success across varied fields and professions, including academia, business, the arts, politics and much more. Some of our notable alumni include:

Over the years, OGS extended its activities to provide essential financial assistance to needy but meritorious students enabling them to continue their education at major Pakistani educational institutions. The OGS has to date supported over 1000 students.

Sima Kamil

Appointed as deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan on August 25, 2020. She is the first woman to hold this position. In May 2017 she became the president and chief executive at UBL, The first woman to lead a major Pakistani bank. She graduated from KGS in 1977. She has a degree in business from Kingston University UK and an MBA from City University, London. In 2019, the Kingston University, UK awarded her an Honorary Doctorate degree in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the banking sector and support of inclusivity in business leadership.

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

She is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and activist known for her work in films that highlight the social issues of our society. She graduated from KGS in 1997. She is the recipient of two Academy Awards, seven Emmy Awards and a Knight International Journalism Award. In 2012, the Government of Pakistan honoured her with the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the second highest civilian honour of the country. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She also holds the record for being the first female film director to have won two Academy Awards by the age of 37.

Ayesha Malik

Appointed as judge to the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 6th January 2022, Ayesha Malik became the first female in the role. She was part of the KGS Class of 1984. She received her law degree from Pakistan College of Law and her LL.M. from Harvard Law School. She was named a London H. Gammon Fellow 1998-1999 for outstanding merit.

Kumail Nanjiani

Best known for his latest role as Kingo, in the movie The Eternals, Kumail Nanjiani graduated from KGS in 1997. He went on to study Computer Science and Philosophy at Grinnell College. He first shot to fame for his role in the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley and co-writing and starring in the romantic comedy film The Big Sick (2017). For co-writing the latter with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Kamila Shamsie

An award-winning fiction writer, Kamila Shamsie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, UK. She graduated from KGS in 1991 and was the Head Girl of the School that year. In 1999, she received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literature in Pakistan for her book ‘City By The Sea.’ Her second novel, Salt and Saffron, followed in 2000, after which she was selected as one of Orange’s 21 Writers of the 21st century. Her novels Kartography (2002) and Broken Verses (2005) have won the Patras Bokhari Award from the Academy of Letters in Pakistan. Her fifth novel Burnt Shadows (2009), won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction. Her novel, Home Fire, won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018.

Aliza Ayaz

Aliza Ayaz is a climate activist and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. She graduated from KGS in 2018 and went on to study Population Health Sciences at UCL, where she founded the Climate Action Society, which helped inspire UK-wide youth action against climate change, leading to the climate emergency declaration at the UK Parliament. In October 2020, she was appointed as the United Nations youth ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 13 – Climate Action, the second Pakistani student after Malala Yousafzai to have received this honour.

Noorjehan Bilgrami

Noor Jehan Bilgrami is a visual artist, textile designer, researcher and educationist. She graduated from KGS in 1968. She is a founder member of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and was its first Executive Director as well as former Chairperson of the Board of Governors. She is also a member of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Noorjehan was awarded the Japan Foundation Fellowship to pursue research on natural indigo in Japan and curated the exhibition ‘Tana Bana: The Woven Soul of Pakistan’ in the US and the Japan Folk Craft Museum, Tokyo. She is also the Principal Curator of the Pakistan Pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020.

Karachi Grammar School