SCPS Fulbright Scholar Seeks to Grow PR Industry in Her Native Pakistan

      The decision didn’t take very long. When Saman Qureshi found out she had won a 2007 Fulbright Scholarship to study in the United States, the Pakistan native knew exactly where she wanted to be.
      “Every industry, every sector somehow circles in and connects to New York City,” says Qureshi. “Here learning is not confined to the classroom and NYU best connected my studies to what’s happening in the city—it’s been my dream school for a long time.”
      A native of Karachi—Pakistan’s largest city and financial center— Qureshi did her undergraduate work at Lahore University of Management Sciences, earning a B.S. in social science with honors. After school she worked as a research analyst at a hedge fund and then as an assistant editor at Newsline, a social and political news magazine.
      For the past two years, Qureshi has been at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS), exploring such subjects as communications strategy, ethics, quantitative research, and public relations management. Insights into real-world practice have come from internships with MediaMind, a social media consulting firm, and the United Nations Global Compact, a UN initiative to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies. Qureshi’s capstone project is an analysis of how the public relations industry is faring in the current economic downturn.
      “Comparing past recessions, and how public relations has evolved in just the past decade, shows that PR is much better positioned to survive and even thrive in today’s economy,” Qureshi writes.
      Qureshi graduates today with an M.S. in Public Relations and Corporation Communications from SCPS, and will soon return to Pakistan. Her ultimate goal would be to work in tourism development, but given the current social and political situation, she doesn’t see that industry ripe for growth yet. Instead, she will seek a position in a PR firm or within an in-house communications office of one of the large multinationals in Pakistan.
      “Strategic communications and reputation management are nowhere as developed as the distinct, credible marketing disciplines in the United States,” Qureshi explains. “So my goal is to harness the education and work experiences here in New York and at NYU, to become a leader and grow this profession in Pakistan.”