Washington, DC (BBN)- US President Barack Obama has announced his intent to appoint for the first time a Bangladeshi origin American to his 14-member advisory commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
Dr. N. Nina Ahmad, a Bangladeshi origin American and 13 other individuals will advise the President on innovative ways to engage AAPIs across the country and to improve their health, education, environment, and well-being, according to a White House statement.
“I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have agreed to join this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years,” President Obama said in the statement.
Dr. N. Nina Ahmad is co-owner and Executive Vice President of Government Affairs for JNA Capital, Inc., a real estate finance and development company based in Philadelphia that she helped to co-found in 1994. Dr. Ahmad also serves as the Administrator of Global City Regional Center, LLC, a position she has held since May 2013.
From 1992 to 2005, Dr. Ahmad served as Bower Research Fellow and then held a joint assistant professorship at Wills Eye Hospital and at the Ophthalmology Department of Jefferson Medical College.
Also during this time, Dr. Ahmad served as the Director of Molecular Biology for the Research Department of Wills Eye Hospital. In 2011, Dr. Ahmad joined the Philadelphia Foundation’s Board of Managers.
In 2009, Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia appointed her Chair of the city’s Commission on Asian American Affairs. Dr. Ahmad received a B.S. in Chemistry from the Lawrence Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
BBN/SSR/AD-26Apr14-1:35 pm (BST)
