Dr. Muhammad and Nasreen Yaqub Scholarship

This scholarship is named in honor of Dr. Muhammad Yaqub and his wife Nasreen who exemplify the transformative power of education. Muhammad Yaqub was born in India in 1937 and migrated to the newly created country of Pakistan when he was ten years old. Despite limited funds, Muhammad was determined to get educated and build a better life for his family. Over the next few decades, he worked diligently to do just that.

Muhammad Yaqub first obtained an undergraduate and graduate degree in economics from Punjab University in 1957 and 1959 and was employed at the State Bank of Pakistan for three years. In 1963, he won a Fulbright scholarship which allowed him to earn a Masters degree in economics from Yale (1964) and then a Phd from Princeton (1966). He then returned to Pakistan and continued to rise up the ranks at the State Bank of Pakistan to lead their Research Department. He later was recruited to join the International Monetary Fund in 1972 and relocated his family to Washington D.C. where he first discovered the Washington Football team and passed along that loyalty to his three children Amer, Sajeela and Tahir. His passion for the Washington Football team was one of many deep rooted connections he fostered to the Washington D.C. area over the rest of his life.

At the IMF he quickly was promoted from economist, senior economist, advisor, division chief and to assistant director, the third highest level at the IMF. After taking early retirement from the IMF, he returned to serve Pakistan first as Special Secretary/Principal Economic Advisor and then as Governor, State Bank of Pakistan in 1993. In 1999, Dr. Yaqub returned to Washington D.C. to retire for good this time and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with his wife and his five grandchildren who live nearby including Zain, Sana, Zach, Yousef and Maryam.

Nasreen Yaqub is no less accomplished. She was born in Pakistan in 1947 and became one of the first women to obtain a college degree from her village. She instilled in her children a life- long respect for education by example by taking courses at Montgomery College herself later in life as well. She worked hard to raise her kids in what was then a completely foreign country while her husband went on frequent long missions for the IMF. Together with her husband, Nasreen reflects the best attributes of what makes America truly great- hard working, willing to take on new challenges and always trying to help others follow in their path.

This scholarship is intended to help the next generation of international students achieve their version of the American dream like Muhammad and Nasreen have.