Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab

The Department of Public Administration, which is now the Institute of Administrative Sciences (IAS), was established in 1962 with the technical assistance provided by the U.S. AID Mission to Pakistan to impart public administration education and res to impart public administration education and research in Pakistan. Under this project, a team of professors from the University of Southern California (USC) under the headship of Professor Dr. Don R. Larson developed the academic programs and local faculty members were inducted who were later sent to USC for doctoral studies. This US trained faculty, after the departure of American professors, on completion of the USAID's project, led and managed the Department of Public Administration in the later years. The name of the department was later changed to the Department of Administrative Sciences and it gained the status of Institute of Administrative Sciences in the year 2001. Initially, the department started offering two M.A. programs: 1) M.A. in Public Administration (MPA) for fresh graduates; and 2) M.A. in Administrative Sciences (MAS) for in-service individuals. In 1971, a third program M.A. in Business Administration was launched which was the second postgraduate program in business administration in the entire country. However, after one year, this program was transferred to a newly established Department of Business Administration. In 1974, the Department of Administrative Science extended academic support to Gomal University for establishing the teaching departments of Public and Business Administration. Besides this, several national training institutions and government departments utilized the expertise of our department. In 1998, MPA Executive Program was launched which replaced the MAS program. In 2001, an array of undergraduate programs including BS(hons) in Management, Master of Human Resource Management (MHRM) Master of Marketing (MMKT), Master of Finance (MFIN), Master of Public Policy (MPP) and Master of Health Administration (MHA) were added to the academic portfolio. Graduate Programs of MPhil Management and PhD Management were also launched in the year 2001. In the following year, IAS also offered Post-graduate diploma in Human Resource Management (PGD-HRM). MPA Program was later upgraded to 18 years education program in the year 2010. Most recently, in 2017, Masters of Science in Human Resource Management (MSHRM) and Masters of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) have been included to strengthen the research profile of the institute. With all these achievements, IAS can rightly claim to be the mother institution of management education in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (former NWFP) and the first, pioneer institution offering postgraduate degree in public administration in the country.