ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani has appointed former senator Dr Javaid R. Laghari, as the Chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC). The government issued notification about the appointment of Dr Javaid R. Laghari as new Chairman of the commission here on Wednesday. Earlier, he was serving as the President and Project Director of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST). The post of the Chairman fell vacant after the resignation of the former HEC Chairman Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman who had tendered his resignation to the prime minister on October 9, 2008. Later, the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani appointed Shehnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistance to the prime minister on Social Sector as Incharge HEC in December. Dr Javaid R. Laghari specializes in Leadership, Higher Education, Information Technology, High Voltage Systems and Space Power Technology, and has published over 120 research papers and presented over 70 papers at International Conferences. Prior to joining ZABIST, Dr Laghari was the Director of Graduate Studies and Tenured Full Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, USA. SUNY is the largest research university in the United States.