Engineering alumnus Shahid Khan to buy NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars

You can make your dreams come true. Engineering at Illinois alumnus Shahid R. Khan (BS 1971, Industrial Engineering) is in the process of fullfiling one of his dreams. He is buying the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

"I am honored to have recently signed an agreement with Wayne Weaver and his partners to purchase the Jacksonville Jaguars," Khan said in a press release. "Owning a team in the NFL has long been my personal and professional goal. Becoming owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars would be a dream come true for me and my family, but above all, would be a privilege."

Khan is buying the team from majority owner Wayne Weaver, who has been the majority owner since the team’s inception nearly 17 years ago.

“Shahid Khan is a great American success story and he will be an outstanding owner for this franchise and for this community,” Weaver said in making the announcement. “I am excited for the team and for our great fans because Shahid will bring passion and commitment to the job. He is committed to restoring a winning tradition here in Jacksonville.” The sale of the team will not be finalized until early January 2012, following a league vote on the sale, which Weaver said he expects will be passed unanimously.

Khan, 61, moved to the U.S from Pakistan in 1967 to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He began working for Flex-N-Gate Corporation in 1970, while an engineering student. Khan continued to work at Flex-N-Gate until 1978, when he left the company to start a new venture.

Helped by a Small Business Administration loan, he began a new business designing and manufacturing innovative lightweight, continuous metal bumper systems, with no seams to corrode or rust. Nearly two-thirds of all North American pick-up trucks and sport utilities have bumper systems based on Khan's designs and are manufactured and supplied by a Flex-N-Gate company.

Khan purchased the original Flex-N-Gate company in 1980. Since then, the Flex N Gate Group has been consistently profitable while enjoying impressive growth under his active ownership and guidance. The Flex-N-Gate Group today employs more than 10,000 associates at 48 manufacturing plants in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain and Argentina, with annual sales exceeding $3 billion.

Khan was inducted as an inaugural member of the Engineering at Illinois Hall of Fame in 2010. Previously, he had received the College of Engineering Alumni Award for Distinguished Service in 2006, “for outstanding contributions to the automotive industry and to the University of Illinois.”

"We have great respect and appreciation for Shahid and all his professional and personal achievements in the community," said Molly Tracy, associate dean for advancement at the College of Engineering. Describing Khan as an "extremely intelligent and very savvy business person,” Tracy noted his on-going commitment to Engineering at Illinois, including service on a number of boards, such as the Engineering Board of Visitors, the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Alumni Board, as well as the MechSE extern program, which entails students job-shadowing engineers.

A member of the UI Foundation Board of Directors, Shahid, and his wife, Ann Khan, have supported academic programs in College of Engineering, the College of Business, the College of Applied Health Sciences, as well as athletic programs, such as the Atkins Tennis Center. In April 2011, Khan was one of six distinguished Illinoisans recently honored as a Lincoln Laureate, the state’s highest award for achievement.
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If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, writer/editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.