LAHORE, Jan 19: The Punjab government has appointed Dr Umer Saif as first vice-chancellor of the IT University Punjab at the Arfa Karim IT Centre. A notification in this regard was issued here on Saturday.

Dr Saif has been working as associate professor of computer sciences at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He completed his BSc (Honours) from LUMS in 1998, PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2001 and Post Doctorate from MIT in 2002. He also served as research scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Dr Saif was the first Pakistani among top 35 young innovators in the world, according to the MIT Technology Review (TR35) in 2011. He was also the first Pakistani who received the Google Faculty Research Award in 2011.

Dr Saif says he will utilise all his capabilities to make the IT University one of the best institutions in Pakistan. He says the university will focus on equipping the young generation with IT facilities and modern trends so that the Pakistani youth can play its role in the IT industry.Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif says Dr Saif has taken commendable steps for the promotion of information technology in Punjab. He says he hopes that Dr Saif will continue his work with the same spirit for the promotion of information technology in the province.