Prof. Zahoor ul Haq (T.I) is a PhD in Agricultural Economics and Business from the University of Guelph (UoG), Canada. He has completed two post-doctoral studies, one each from UoG, Canada & Gatton School of Business & Economics, University of Kentucky, USA. He is the only Pakistani to receive the prestigious Canadian Agricultural Economics Society “Publication of Enduring Quality Award” in 2021. He also received the Fulbright Pre-Doctoral Scholarship, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Agricultural Institute of Canada Foundation’s Award “Douglas MacRorie Memorial Scholarship”, the Toronto Milk Producers’ Award, and the HEC Best Teachers Award 2016. His research was awarded the Best Research Paper award at the 41st International Business Research Conference in April 2017 at Imperial College London, UK.

Before joining AWKUM, he served at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Canada, as an Economist and United Arab Emirates University. In AWKUM, he served as Dean and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (VC) before taking over as Vice Chancellor, AWKUM, in April 2020 amid financial and administrative turmoil. The severe financial constraints restricted the University from paying full salaries to its employees in May 2020. When the University was on the verge of financial insolvency, Prof. Haq led from the front and brought about numerous reforms on the academic and governance front. Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Haq, the University has been consistently ranked in the top three countrywide and first in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as per the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Moreover, as per QS World University Ranking: Asia, AWKUM has been ranked among the top 20 universities in the country and placed in the bracket of 351-400 throughout Asia.

He launched the Learning Management System (LMS) during COVID-19, an integrated and digitized student portal that enabled 30,000 students to learn online. He also developed 45 demand-driven academic programs, increased student numbers from 8,500 to 14,000 within two years, and doubled the University’s income from Rs. 746 million to Rs. 1544 million. From a deficit of Rs. 98 million in 2019-20, his diligence and reforms helped the University attain a surplus of Rs. 145 million in 2020-21.

In line with his vision to make the University a Centre for research excellence, the University established Research and IT labs during his tenure as VC. He also established the University Research and Innovation Fund (RIF), thereby increasing research productivity by 40% and research citations by 45%. In 2022, AWKUM produced the highest number of research articles in KP, surpassing all other universities. These milestones collectively contributed to the rankings of the University, successfully securing a score of 96.2 in citation impact and 99.8 in research strength as per Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024. Further, three of the Universities patents, namely “High Cross Immune Protection Established by Selected Antigens against Ticks”, “A Novel Polymer Drug Conjugate System to Avoid the Psychotic Side Effects Associated with the Use of Montelukast” and “Synthesis of Geopolymer from Industrial Waste” are in the process of commercialization.

To promote equity, diversity, and inclusiveness, he established the “Students Welfare & Endowment Fund,” which financially assisted 300 students and enabled 230 orphans, minorities, and students with major disabilities to get free undergraduate education. As a policy, the university offers free undergraduate education to orphans, minorities, and students with major disabilities.
Based on his exceptional performance and leadership, he received the first-ever performance grant of Rs. 50.00 million from the Cabinet of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2022. He also received the academic excellence award from the Governor Punjab, Government of Punjab.
He established the first policy institute in KP, “The Pakhtunkhwa Economic Policy Research Institute,” to develop sectoral strategies and conduct policy analysis for the KP government. The institute also developed the first Social Accounting Matrix for the KP economy. On the developmental side, his utmost diligence towards his work earned him the government's trust, and he received Rs. 3750 million for a PSDP-funded project and Rs. 990 million for the ADP project.