Sartaj Aziz was forced out by his peers during the wave of 1999 military coup d'état which started and ended the massive arrests of his colleagues and government ministers of Nawaz Sharif. Since then, Aziz remained quiet and dedicated his life to working on economic issues. In 2001, Aziz joined the Department of Social Sciences of the Beaconhouse National University and served there as a professor of Economics. In 2009, Aziz was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Beaconhouse National University in Lahore.