LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Thursday appointed Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid, a former vice chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology, as chairperson of the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC).
A five-member search committee led by Dr Attaur Rahman had interviewed 15 shortlisted candidates for the post of chairperson of the commission. The committee had conducted interviews and sent the top three candidates` names to the CM`s office two weeks ago. The candidates were COMSATS Islamabad Faculty of Science Dean Prof Dr Arshad Saleem Bhatti, University of Agriculture Faisalabad VC Prof Dr Muhammad Ashraf and former Lahore UET VC Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid.
The post of the chairperson of the commission had been vacant for the last six months after Prof Dr Nizamuddin`s tenure ended on Dec 16, 2018.
According to a notification of the Punjab Higher Education Department (HED), `The Chief Minister/ Controlling Authority has been pleased to approve the appointment of Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid as a Chairperson, Punjab Higher Education Commission, Lahore for a period of four years, in exercise of power vested in him under Section 5(1) and 5(2) of the Punjab Higher Education Commission Act, 2014.
Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid has an extensive experience of industry, teaching and research. He worked as UET vice chancellor from 2014 to 2018. He also worked as acting VC of the Punjab Tianjin University of Technology (PTUT)in 2018 and had an additional charge of Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology (KFUEIT), Rahim Yar Khan, and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering & Technology (MNS UET) Multan in 2015-2016.
He served the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI) for 21 years as Pro-Rector and Dean from 1994-2014.
His research interests are in the field of Nanotechnology and Materials Engineering and has published over 200 research papers with accumulative impact factor of 121. He had postdoc Fellowships in University of Oxford and Leeds, the UK and Guest Professorship for short-term research program on Diamond-Based Composite Materials at the Swiss Federal Labs (EMPA) Switzerland.