LAHORE: Dr Moeed W. Yusuf, an eminent academic and Vice Chancellor of Beaconhouse National University (BNU), has urged academically gifted students to become innovators and leaders rather than followers, warning that rapid technological advancements, particularly artificial intelligence, are transforming professions and making traditional career paths increasingly unpredictable.
He was addressing a ceremony held at Government College University (GCU) Lahore on Friday to honour the GCU high achievers who secured top positions in the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore Intermediate Examinations 2026.
GCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Muhammad Omer Chaudhry, Director Intermediate Studies M. Siddique Awan, faculty members, position holders and their parents attended the ceremony. The chief guest and the Vice Chancellor presented certificates of appreciation to the high achievers.
Dr Yusuf said the world was changing so rapidly that nobody could predict which professions would exist two decades from now or what skills would be required to succeed in them.
“Don’t look for comfort in predictability. Be ready for quick changes and adversity, and be ready to innovate,” he advised the students.
He said the country’s brightest young minds must resist the temptation to follow conventional career paths and instead aspire to transform their chosen professions through original thinking, innovation and leadership.
“If the best minds in a society do exactly what the other 99 percent are doing, that society will remain where it is,” he observed, urging parents and teachers to give talented students the freedom to discover their abilities and pursue their ambitions.
Dr Yusuf said success should not be measured merely by professional titles, wealth or social status, but by personal fulfilment, integrity and the legacy an individual leaves behind.
“The first thing you have to do if you want to succeed in life is to know yourself,” he said, adding that students must identify what genuinely brings them satisfaction and pursue their goals with honesty and determination.
Dr Yusuf said artificial intelligence had fundamentally changed the relationship between teachers and students. “Our job now is to convert information into knowledge,” he said, stressing that teachers must evolve from conventional instructors into mentors and role models.
He also warned against a growing culture of shortcuts and superficial measures of success, saying that hard work, adaptability and personal integrity would remain essential regardless of technological progress.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Muhammad Omer Chaudhry attributed the institution’s academic achievements to sustained hard work, dedication, honesty and sincerity, stressing that academic brilliance alone could not guarantee lasting success without these qualities.
The Vice Chancellor said he had witnessed students from ordinary academic backgrounds achieve extraordinary success through consistent effort, while some exceptionally talented students had failed to sustain their performance after losing their dedication.
“No profession or field is inferior, provided one strives to excel in it,” he said, encouraging students to pursue excellence and innovation in medicine, engineering, humanities and other disciplines rather than limiting their ambitions to conventional careers.
Sharing his philosophy of teaching, Prof. Chaudhry said the true measure of an educator’s success was not merely the transmission of academic knowledge but the development of good human beings.
“If I can make even one student in a class a good human being, I would consider myself a successful teacher,” he remarked.
He said education combined with character building had always been the hallmark of Government College, whose graduates had distinguished themselves in diverse fields over its long history.
Congratulating the position holders, the Vice Chancellor reminded them that their achievements marked the beginning rather than the culmination of their academic and professional journeys.
GCU Lahore secured seven top positions in the BISE Lahore Intermediate First Annual Examination 2026.
The university’s high achievers included Syed Muhammad Mohi ud Din, who secured first position overall and in the Pre-Medical group with 1,158 marks, Muhammad Ahmad Shoukat, who stood second overall and in Pre-Medical with 1,157 marks, Muhammad Ahmad, who secured second position in Pre-Engineering with 1,152 marks, and Syed Muhammad Murtaza Mehdi Naqvi, who secured second position in Computer Science with 1,133 marks. Salman Khan was also among the university’s position holders.
The university also recorded strong overall academic results, with 779 students obtaining A+ grades and another 523 securing A grades.