GCU gets new vice chancellor.

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...