The Oxford University is a unique institution. It is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and perhaps the second oldest in Europe, Oxford. There is no clear date of its foundation, but Oxford can claim to be over a thousand years old.

Oxford University Press, which is the publishing arm of Oxford University, was around in undivided India before Partition. The OUP Pakistan Branch officially began its operations on 18 February 1952. In the 66 years since that date, OUP Pakistan has become solidly established as a leading publishing house in Pakistan and as a business has shown continuous, strong growth and consistent returns year after year.

But it has been more than a matter of sales numbers and growth, important as these are. No less significant is the fact that OUPP has become decisively established within the educational and academic communities of the country.

Whether it is our exceptional array of educational products, or our teachers’ training programmes and materials, or our literature festivals that have become so much a part of the intellectual calendar, or our head office with its celebration of Pakistani arts and crafts, OUP has become an integral part of the intellectual and cultural life of the country and enjoys a unique position in the hearts and minds of Pakistanis of all ages.

The Oxford Museum and Archives encapsulates the rich history of this unique institution and allows us to relive many of the key moments along the way.

As an individual who enjoys the special privilege of participating in the life of this institution, I take pride in the values of excellence in research, scholarship, and education of our parent University. And most I applaud the passion and dedication of those who have worked for this institution since its inception in Pakistan and who work for it today.