Naima Khatoon

Some Lesser Known Facts About Naima Khatoon

• Naima Khatoon belongs to Urdu speaking family in Jajpur, Odisha.

• According to Khatoon, she had to face many difficulties to get enrolled in AMU as she belonged to an orthodox family. She said that no woman in her family had ever crossed the state border to pursue a career but with her mother’s support she got enrolled to AMU, where her brother was also pursuing his education.

• While studying at the Aligarh Muslim Univerity, Naima became a member of the AMU student union. Initially, she did not have many friends there; however, she began helping international students from Iran and Africa improve their English which made her popular among other students.

• Khatoon holds specialization in the fields of Clinical, Health, Applied Social, and Spiritual Psychology.

• After completing her PhD at the Aligarh Muslim University, she became a lecturer in August 1988 and an Associate Professor in April 1998 at the same university.

• She worked as a lecturer at the National University of Rwanda, Central Africa for a year from 1999 to 2000.

• In October 2015, she became the Director of the Centre for Skill Development & Career Planning at the AMU, Aligarh.

• She has given lectures at many renowned universities across the world including the University of Louisville in the USA, the University of Alba Iulia in Romania, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Hollings Centre in Istanbul, Turkey and Hollings Centre for International Dialogue in Boston, USA.

• She has attended and presented research papers at numerous National & International conferences.

• Naima Khatoon has authored, co-authored, and edited various books and also published several papers in various National and International Journals and magazines.

• She has been a supervisor for fifteen PhD theses and various dissertations.

• During her tenure at the AMU, Naima has served as the Deputy Coordinator of UGC assisted Special Assistance Program on Spiritual Psychology in the Department of Psychology, AMU. She was appointed as the provost once in Indira Gandhi Hall and twice in Abdullah Hall.

• She has also worked as the Literary Secretary and Senior Hall Monitor of both Abdullah Hall and Sarojini Naidu Hall at the Aligarh Muslim University.

• In 2000, she rejoined AMU as an associate professor and in 2006 she became a Professor.

  

• In November 2023, Naima Khatoon’s name was suggested for the position of vice-chancellor of the University for the first time and at the time, she did not get much support. Later, the news spread and her pictures with verses stating that a woman can never hold this position, went viral on social media.

• On 22 April 2024, she was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and became the first woman in over 100 years to hold a top position in the university.