LAHORE: The Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) on Thursday appointed Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi as vice chancellor of the Government College University (GCU), Lahore.

The post had been lying vacant since retirement of Prof Dr Hassan Ali Shah.

Dr Zaidi, an international social policy analyst and expert on population, has assumed the charge of the post with a pledge to tap the university’s research and education potential, improve its international outlook and enhance academic excellence and prestige.

Prof Zaidi, who holds a PhD in Economics from Oxford University, UK, has been appointed for a four-year tenure by the Punjab government on the recommendation of Vice Chancellor Search Committee headed by Prof Dr Khalid Aftab.

GCU faculty and staff accorded a warm welcome to Prof Zaidi when he arrived at the varsity to assume the charge of his new assignment.

Senior teachers at the varsity, welcoming the appointment, said Prof Zaidi had brought with him a vast experience of working and teaching at the world’s top universities. They lauded Prof Zaidi’s decision to return to the country and serve his alma mater. They hoped his appointment as VC would help internationalise the GCU.

Talking to the varsity teachers, Prof Zaidi said the GCU had great potential and “we would jointly work to bring it on a par with the top universities of Asia”. He said it was a matter of great pride for him as an old Ravian to serve as head of the the prestigious institution.

Prof Zaidi, 56, has been working for the last 30 years with different distinguished European institutions, the UN and universities in the UK and the Netherlands (including London School of Economics and University of Oxford).

Recently, he has been the Professor of Social Gerontology at the Seoul National University, Korea, that is ranked 36 in the World QS Ranking 2019. He has also been a visiting professor at the London School of Economics and a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford, UK. He has several reputed books and articles published in the top-ranked journals to his credit.

In 2019, the Government of Shanghai awarded him the prestigious 1,000 Foreign Experts Scholarship and he also became an Adjunct Professor at the Shanghai University, China. He is also an expert in the field of population ageing and has recently published reports in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Rights Pakistan, the British Council, Islamabad and Alzheimer’s Pakistan.

Previously, he was professor in the International Social Policy at the University of Southampton (UK), Director Research at European Centre Vienna (Austria), Senior Economist at OECD Paris, Civil Servant at UK’s Department for Work and Pensions in London and a researcher at Erasmus University and Tilburg University.

ORU: The Old Ravians Union has welcomed the appointment of Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi as GCU VC.

In a press statement, ORU President Ashfaq Mohlan, Honorary Secretary Prof Dr Khalid Manzoor and Secretary General Syed Tayyab Hussian Rizvi congratulated Prof Zaidi and assured him of support for the development of their alma mater.

The union executive committee expressed gratitude that Prof Zaidi is an Old Ravian and fully understands the culture and traditions of the GCU.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2019