Dr James Masih Shera MBE is a politician, educationist and former Mayor of Rugby.
Personal life
Shera was born in a small rural village in Pakistan on March 6, 1946.
Career
In 1988, Shera became the first Pakistani to be elected Mayor of Rugby. He was leader of the Labour Group in Rugby from 2005 to 2022. He also served as Chair Overview and Scrutiny Board, Rugby Borough Council from 2010 to 2014. In 2014, Shera made a record by getting elected as a councilor for the 10th consecutive term.
Awards and recognition
In 1992, he received the Sitara-e-Imtiaz from the President of Pakistan. For his services to the NHS and communities in the Midlands, he was awarded MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2007. A road has been named in Rugby as ‘James Shera Way' in recognition of his campaigns as chair of the council of fellows of Warwickshire College. In 2010, University of Bedfordshire gave him an honorary doctorate of Business and Administration. In 2017, he was award with “Freedom of the Borough of Rugby”. In 2021, Forman Christian College University, Lahore, Pakistan awarded him honorary PhD in Arts & Letters. In March 2023, he received the Quaid-e-Azam Hilal Award from the President of Pakistan.