Dr. Iftekhar Ahmad joined the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre as Director in September 2004. He started his long and distinguished career from Doordarshan in January 1982 and worked as a production staff until 1987 in Doordarshan at Delhi. He joined the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune as a faculty member in 1987. In 1996 he was elevated to the post of Dean (Television) and worked on that position until he joined AJK MCRC. During his stay at FTTI, Pune, besides teaching TV Direction and Production to the students, he introduced and conducted several new post graduate courses of short and long term durations and produced teaching resources.

As an experienced media trainer and educator he has helped several educational institutions and universities in designing the syllabi of their media courses and developing the infrastructure for the training of students. He has also worked as a jury member of the International Film Festival of India and Doordarshan Annual Awards. Currently he is a member of advisory boards and governing councils of different educational institutions/universities, TV channels and organizations like UNESCO, University Grants Commission, Union Public Service Commission.

He did his post graduation in Mass Communication and Journalism from AMU, Aligarh and received his Ph.D. degree on ‘Environmental Issues in TV News Programmes’ from Pune University. He has also done a post graduate course in TV Production from FTII, Pune and an Art Appreciation course from National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.