ISLAMABAD: The Vice Chancellors of Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) and Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) have assumed their offices almost after a month of their appointment, while the rector of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) took charge of his position on the very day of his reappointment.
Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training on October 26 had notified the new heads i.e., Professor Dr Muhammad Ali, Professor Dr Zia-ul-Qayyum and Professor Dr Masoom Yasinzai as the three former heads of these universities including, Professor Ashraf of QAU, Professor Siddique AIOU and Professor Yasinzai retired on October 11, 2018.
Yasinzai was the only retired head who had applied for the post and was reappointed as IIUI’s rector.
Both Dr Zia-ul-Qayyum and Professor Dr Muhammad Ali were unable to join their new places of employment as they had not been relieved by their former workplaces i.e. the University of Gujrat and Government College University (GCU), Faisalabad respectively.
A senior official in QAU told Pakistan Today that the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training had appointed an acting VC in AIOU but not in QAU, due to which the university was facing serious administrative issues.
The official said that the ministry came under fire when a fight between two students’ groups erupted in the university a few days ago and no one with administrative power was available to handle the situation in the absence of a VC or acting VC.
The official said that the VC was scheduled to join the university in mid-December but the government, sensing the gravity of the situation, directed him to give a joining to have some control over the university.
It is pertinent to mention here that Prof Muhammad Ali is an eminent academician by professional background, specialising in the field of Biological Sciences; his previous positions include lecturer at Lawrence College, Murree and Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.
Dr Ali earned his PhD in 1999 from the University of Wales, UK and Post Doctorate from MU, Colombia USA in 2008. He won 19 national awards on the basis of research and teaching quality, including the Pakistan Academy of Science Gold Medal, Best University Teacher Award and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.
Dr Ali has completed 25 different research projects and has worked as a project management team for two HEC funded projects worth Rs79 million i.e. Establishment of Institute of Biotechnology and Establishment of Center for Undergraduate studies. He has worked as Center for Undergraduate studies (2005-2008) director and Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology director. He has also published 219 research papers in international journals with a very high impact factor.
Similarly, Dr Zia is an experienced educationist who earned a doctorate (PhD) from the University of Leeds, UK, specialising in Machine Learning and Semantic Information Retrieval.
His professional experience spans more than 28 years in a diverse range of fields. The establishment of IT institutes and organisational planning and development remain the foremost highlights of his career.
Earlier, he had been associated with prominent educational institutions like National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) National University of Computer and Engineering Sciences (FAST), Iqra University and University Institute of Information Technology (UIIT).
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