Pakistani businessman and philanthropist. Being an institution in Pakistan, Syed Babar Ali who started some of the country's most successful companies is known for his important contribution in creating the Lahore University of Management and Science (LUMS). LUMS, a business school founded in 1986 encourages its professors, many recruited from abroad, to foster debate in classes, and its graduates tend to be critical thinkers with open minds. LUMS has produced about 4,000 graduates since 1986 and almost all are employed, many with lucrative careers in the West. While it is an elite institution, largely inaccessible to most Pakistanis, it does have a programme for underprivileged students and is currently offering full scholarship and admission help to about 250 students. Admission to LUMS is strictly on merit and Pakistanis who try to use connections to get in are turned away. A country with a corrosive system of privilege and patronage that has eaten away at merit, degrading the fabric of society and making it more difficult for poor people to rise, LUMS is recognised as a centre of excellence producing corporate leaders in Pakistan. After having studied at the University of Michigan (later he also studied at Harvard Business School) Syed Babar Ali returned back to Pakistan in 1947 and began to set up joint ventures with multinational companies, including Tetra Pak of Sweden, Coca-Cola of the US, Nestle of Switzerland and Mitsubishi of Japan.