*ISLAMABAD:* Dr Tariq Banuri has been appointed as chairman HigherEducation Commission (HEC).
A six-member selection committee including former health minister Dr SaniaNishtar, former lawmaker Shahnaz Wazir Ali, educationists Faisal Bari andMirza Qamar Baig and Education Secretary Akbar Durrani presented a list ofcandidates for the post of HEC chairman. Renowned educationist Syed BabarAli was the convener of the committee.
The search committee, after following a rigorous selection process, hadrecommended a panel to the premier comprising distinguished scholarsincluding former Islamia University, Bahawalpur VC Professor Dr MuhammadMukhtar, Professor Dr Tariq Banuri, Professor Dr Iqbal Chaudhry andProfessor Dr Anwarul Hassan Gillani.
The University of Utah professor, Tariq Banuri, holds a PhD degree ineconomics from Harvard University. He completed his MA in developmenteconomics from Williams College after finishing bachelors in civilengineering from the University of Peshawar.
Banuri is also the author of 20 books in addition to more than 30 researchpapers.
The decision of appointment of Dr Banuri as HEC chairman was welcomed bythe academic and civil society circles.
Inter-University Consortium and Working Group on Higher Education ReformsNational Coordinator Murtaza Noor and Federation of All PakistanUniversities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) Central President DrKaleemullah and FAPUASA Islamabad Chapter President Dr Shehzad Ashrafgreeted the new HEC chairman and assured their utmost cooperation forbringing about positive reforms in higher education sector.