Nazia Mintz Habib
Nazia Mintz Habib, is an interdisciplinary academic based at the University of Cambridge, conducting action research in sustainability science and sustainable development. She is the founder and director of the university's Centre for Resilience and Sustainable Development. Her work has benefited the leaderships of more than 57 countries.
Early life and education
Born in Bangladesh, she earned a scholarship to study at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in the United States. At Plattsburgh, she was awarded the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence and the Dean's Award for Outstanding Student in the School of Business and Economics. She was the 2003 commencement speaker. After graduating in 2003, she worked for IBM in New York City. She then earned a Commonwealth Scholarship which enabled study in the United Kingdom. At the University of Cambridge, she earned a Master of Philosophy and then PhD. Her thesis, "Biofuels and Food Security: Case Studies from Malaysia and Tanzania" won the Claydon Prize from St. Edmund's College for outstanding doctoral thesis in economics. It addressed the effects of biofuels on the markets for food and for energy.Career
At Cambridge, Habib has a professor-equivalent role with appointments with both the Department of Engineering and Department of Land Economy and is affiliated with Newnham College.Habib has worked as an expert for the World Economic Forum and various agencies of the United Nations. She was the lead author of the Dead Sea Resilience Agenda, a document resulting from a 2015 international forum on how to respond to the humanitarian impact of the Syrian civil war.
She is also a social entrepreneur and advisor to non-profit organisations.