PESHAWAR: The faculty members and support staff of the University of Peshawar the other day lauded the services of Prof Dr Sara Safdar for promotion of higher education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Dr Sara Safdar, who is Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, is retiring from the service tomorrow (September 22) after serving for 34 years at the University of Peshawar in various capacities. She also holds the position of acting dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

The office of the controller of examinations arranged a function in honour of the outgoing dean to acknowledge her services. Speaking on the occasion, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Azmat Hayat Khan said Dr Sara Safdar was an excellent colleague who wholeheartedly undertook all the assignments entrusted to her.

Dr Sara Safdar, who has the honour of being the first female dean of a university in Pakistan from the Christian community, also holds the distinction of being the first PhD in social sciences from the minorities. She did her PhD in 1991 and is member of the syndicate of almost all public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

She was awarded the national cultural award by the government for her achievements in education in 1999 and the SAARC award for women in development in the preceding year. She was also declared woman of the year in 1997 in ABI Carolina, USA. She has authored five books and has numerous research publications on social work and sociology to her credit.

Dr Sara Safdar thanked her colleagues for recognising her efforts and expressed her resolve to work for the faculty and student development in the future as well. She attributed her success to her parents, mother-in-law and her husband. Controller Examination Iftikhar Hussain Khan presented souvenir to Dr Sara Safdar.The news.