Islamabad-The Vice Chancellors (VCs) of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) and Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) assumed charge of their respective universities on Friday.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Ali Shah, ex-VC Government College University (GCU) Faislabad was appointed as VC QAU last month; however he had not taken charge of his office immediately after the appointment.

The new VC QAU assumed the charge of his office and held meetings with senior administration and faculty members. Prof. Dr. Mohaamad Ali Shah has assumed charge soon after the university witnessed another clash between two student councils, in which dozens of students were injured.

Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Zia-ul-Qayyum, ex-VC University of Gujrat also took his responsibilities at AIOU.  

Dr. Zia who enjoys high-profile academic background was recently appointed for the prestigious slot by the President of Pakistan, in his capacity as the University’s chancellor.

 His appointment was made for four-year tenure. He gets the honour of running the affairs of AIOU which is considered the country’s largest educational institution in terms of its enrollment (about 1.3 million students) and country-wide academic infrastructure network (44 regional offices).

Dr. Zia is an experienced educationist, who earned master’s degrees in mathematics and computer science and also earned a doctorate (PhD) from the University of Leeds, UK, specializing in Machine Learning/Semantic Information Retrieval.

His professional experience spans more than 28 years in a diverse range of fields.

The establishment of IT institutes and organisational planning and development remain the foremost highlights of his career.

Lately, he was serving as VC, University of Gujrat. Earlier he had been associated with some prominent educational institutions, like NUST National University of Computer and Engineering Sciences, Iqra University and University Institute of Information Technology.