Dr Javaid R Laghari, former senator and president of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST), Karachi, has been appointed as the chairman of the Higher Education Commission by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani yesterday, Dawn and The Nation report in their today’s editions.
Before joining SZABIST, Dr. Laghari was a tenured professor at the State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, where he spent almost 15 years as a faculty member. He holds a PhD Degree in Electrical Engineering from SUNY, Buffalo (1980), MS from METU, Ankara (1975), and BS from University of Sindh, Jamshoro (1971). Dr Laghari is an accomplished researcher in the areas of high voltage systems and space power technologies. According to his resume available online, he has published 41 journal papers, including papers in IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation, Applied Physics Communications, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Journal of Materials Science Letters and IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. Many of his papers can be accessed from IEEExplore (login required) and Google Scholar.
Dr Laghari supervised six PhD students to completion at SUNY, Buffalo. He received more than $5 million in sponsored research grants during his tenure at SUNY and established the Space Power Institute there. He also held the position of Director of Graduate Studies at SUNY, Buffalo for the last few years of his stay there.
About his interest in issues of education, Dr Laghari’s website states the following:
Dr. Laghari is an academic at heart. He is concerned about the state of education, both in schools and universities, in Pakistan.
He is actively involved in the educational affairs of the country. He has raised many concerns on the Senate floor and has recommended an increase in the lower education budget so that the literacy rate of Pakistan can be substantially increased.
Dr Laghari believes in liberal education and supports the secularization of the syllabus. He is a strong proponent of education for girls and women, particulary from the underdeveloped areas.
Dr Laghari(‘s) goal is that Pakistani universities join the ranks of leading universities in Asia. He has already achieved this goal by making SZABIST among the top universities in Asia as ranked by BusinessWeek, AsiaInc, Time and CNN.
As a member of Senate, Dr Laghari served on three standing committees including the Standing Committee on Water and Power. He has severely criticized Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation (KESC) for their performance and advocated for the adoption of conservation measures as the solution to the looming power crisis in 2007. In an earlier article published in 2006 titled “Power Vision for Pakistan“, he suggested the use of nuclear and coal power plants, arguing that Pakistan is well-positioned in both areas in terms of technical expertise and resources, yet not utilizing that potential for power generation. He also advocated exploring wind and solar energy, and argued that because ‘water and power’ are always lumped together in Pakistan, progress towards other sources of power has been minimal.
In the past, Dr Laghari has written on the subject of higher education, including articles about “Promoting Research for Development” (Dawn 1997), “The Role of Private Sector in Higher Education” (The News 1998) and “Vision of Professional Education in the 21st Century” (The News 1997). As the Chairman of HEC, he will have ample opportunity to put these ideas to practice. We wish him all the best in this new role, and hope for rapid progress in higher education in the country.
I hope he restructures the review process to include more transparency and continues to expand the research base in Pakistan. The only way the (research) brain drain is going to stop is if Pakistanis abroad can be reasonably certain that the support for higher education doesn’t sway with the whimsy of each new government.
From his resume he seems like he’s been intimately involved in competitively applying for and winning funds during his tenure in the US, and also in the review process. That’s good news.
Such Changes must be appreciated to have a link between industry and institutions.
Better expectations for support of rsearchers, HEC Pakistan must be the competitive of other HECs of the world.
I hope appointment of such kind of researcher, academician also with vast experience of management that he will be able to promote higher education in Pakistan and throw corrupt people [names edited out -ed] out of the HEC.
(STEP Eds: Please refrain from personal attacks…)
Great news.
Some fresh people in HEC. Hope it helps move things along faster.
If the change is faster, the institutions shall complain but will follow along for the better.
Which new position did Dr. Ata ur Rehman get ?
Regards,
Khawar
[...] at an appropriate time, as the new Chairman of HEC, Dr Javaid Laghari takes over (see our posts here, and here). It provides an objective analysis to the new chairman, as he will take on the review of [...]
I hope that Dr. Laghari will do his best for the promotion of research and new ideas by libralizing the eductional institutional and secularizing the contents.
The only way to see Pakistan as prosperous, liberal and tolerant nation is to follow the speech of the Father of Nation to the constituent assembly on August 11, 1947. I hope Dr. Laghari will do his best at least in the higher seat of learnings of Pakistan.
I am delighted at the appointment of this high-achieving academic and profilic individual to this position.
[Personal comment edited out]
He is indeed a role model for many and I wish him all the best.
mehdi shallwani
[Ed: Please refrain from attacking personalities. We are all here for constructive discussion and debate]
I am excited at the appointment of this high-achieving academic and profilic individual to this position. I hope that Dr. Laghari will do his best for the promotion of research and new ideas by libralizing the eductional institutional and secularizing the contents. I wish him all the best.
The Guy is a fake. He can not even write a simple letter without errors. Talk to all educators all over the country who receive his communications, and they will tell you the truth about this guy. With his credentials he can not get a job at any world class university.
The guy is not an educator. Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqui was an educator; Dr. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui was an educator.
When mediocre like him are installed at helm of higher education the country will not prosper. His only credential is that he is a friend of Zardari.
All countries next to Pakistan are marching forward with double digit economic growth on the engines of Science and technology. Zardari and his crooks are taking country back in time.
Well, before joining SZABIST, Dr. Laghari was a tenured professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, NY. So, your point about him not having the credentials to ‘get a job at any world class university’ is obviously not valid. And, Dr. Leghari has been on the job for just a few months. To accuse him of our economic problems is woefully unfair.
But, more importantly, I think we should focus our criticism (or praise, for that matter) on the policies of public officials, and try to refrain from the kind of personal attacks that make it difficult to have a substantive discussion. Please feel free to point out where you disagree with HEC policies or practices, as the goal of this site is to take the ‘next step forward’, rather than pull people down. Or, as the Comment Guidelines on this site state: “There is room for disagreement, but please disagree with people’s ideas.”
Dear A.D. Tunio
Hope you are deligted to know the real facts about Dr. Javaid Laghari. Let us keep word-guns down until confirmed truth.
Saleem Raza
Sir we are the student of Hajvery university they are not giving us the degree of B.Tech Pass program we have complete our 2 years and they are saying that HEC has changed the rule but rules has changed for 2010 fall.so what we have to go to the media or supreme court.can you help us in this matter.