Jafar Mirza is the first Chair of the Cambridge Regional College from a minority group. The college’s new arts building is named after him. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his commitment, dedication and relentless devotion to education in 2006. He also serves as the Chair of the Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum.

The story of this enlightened individual starts not from Karachi, the place of his birth, but England where he migrated to first as a student in 1973. “England doesn’t let go of one who goes there that easily,” he says. “In the words of an Englishman friend, I would also say that ‘I knew my plan then but I don’t know the Master’s plan’,” he adds.

“I moved to Cambridge in 1994. Three years after settling down there, I was asked at the annual general meeting of the Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum to stand for their elections. That’s how I was elected its chairman. The community comprises 23 ethnic groups as its members. The Pakistan Cultural Organisation is one of its members. It is like a mini United Nations. So every member country had its own issues and way of thinking,” he explains the challenges of working in such an environment.

At the time Mirza decided to offer free IT courses to whoever would like to take them at the forum. He also used to invite various educationists and intellectuals to speak at the forum one of whom happened to be the principal of the Regional College. In return they invited Mirza to their college as guest for an award distribution ceremony. There he was informed they were looking for new governors for their board. “It was a big jump for me to be made one of the 15 governors on the college board,” he smiles. And in 2001, he was made the chairman of the board of governors. “The term of a chair on the board is usually for four years but since I had been made the chairman after only two years I had two years left over from there too and so I served as chairman for six years,” he says.

While chairman of the college board, Mirza was also involved with the Rotary Club where many well-known people including Nobel laureates and other dignitaries were also often invited to speak. “One of them also happened to be the Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees, who also became the Master or principal of Trinity College,” Mirza continues. It was through him that Mirza was introduced to the top brass of Anglia Ruskin University. And its vice chancellor seeing Mirza’s popularity among all the communities asked him if he would consider to be on their board. One thing led to another and by 2003, Mirza was running in their elections to become the governor of the Cambridge Board. He was the first Asian and first Muslim to reach that position. He only retired from there this year in April.

“What everyone sees in me was that I was living in Cambridge and that I always made myself accessible,” he says. It was all this that saw him also getting a board position on the government’s advisory board through the recommendation of the principal of the Hills Road College. The board advises the governance on issues related to further education colleges in Britain.

The advisory board held its meeting in London, which the Minister of Education attended, too. He was well aware of Mirza’s work in raising funds for education and helping the communities. That’s how the new arts building at Regional College got to be named after him. It was officially opened by the Duke of York in 2004. Mirza was also responsible for getting all the funds for the construction of the building so the decision of naming it after him was appropriate. In early 2006, he was nominated for the OBE which then came about on the second Saturday of June, the official 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. In 2008, he was awarded the Sankore University Award for achievements in the education field by The Muslim News.

Today he is the living role model in Cambridge for the minority communities, especially his own. Even before his retirement from chairmanship of the Cambridge Board Mirza was flooded by new offers for new positions at other educational institutions and organisations. Currently, he is also the director of East of England Faith Counsel (EEFC).