Myrza Karimov, Head of Co-operative Education Program, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Central Asia. He has more than 30 years of experience working in education. Karimov spent over 13 years as Vice-Rector, Dean, Deputy Director, and Assistant Professor with the Arabaev Kyrgyz State University and Jusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University.
Karimov has successfully established cultural and education links and raised funds from the European Union, the United States, Thailand, and South Korea. Prior to joining UCA, he worked as Program Director of Counterpart International’s Support to the Electoral Process Project (STEP) funded by the USAID Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan. Before his work in Afghanistan, he worked 9 years as a Project Manager at the USAID Mission in Kyrgyzstan and managed Education and Democracy projects in Kyrgyzstan.  He led initiatives to support the legal reform of the Kyrgyz educational system and civil society, promoting electoral and political processes, decentralization, and improving local governance. He was also a lead member of the Education Working Group tasked with reforming the higher education system of the country.

He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, the United States of America in Education Policy and Administration with a concentration on Comparative International Development Education.