First round of interviews for PU VC from 28th

LAHORE : The first round of interviews of candidates for the post of Punjab University (PU) Vice Chancellor will be held on May 28 and May 29 (Monday and Tuesday) in which a total of 26 candidates would appear.

A total of 101 candidates had applied for the coveted post of which initially 26 have been shortlisted. Of them, 20 would appear before the VC Search Committee for interviews on Monday and six on Tuesday.

Sources said a total of over 40 candidates had been shortlisted while 26 of them would be interviewed in the first round. They added the scrutiny of the remaining was underway for whom a new date would be announced for interviews later.

Among candidates for the PU VC post are three incumbent Vice Chancellors (VC) including Prof Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, VC, UET, Taxila, Prof Dr Rauf-i-Azam, VC University of Education, Lahore, and Prof Dr Farhat Saleemi, VC Govt College Women University, Sialkot.

The other candidates are Prof Dr Shahid Kamal, Dean Faculty of Sciences, PU, Prof Dr Shahid Munir, Director Center for Coal Technology, PU, Prof Dr Javed Ahmad, Chairman Department of Physics, BZU, Multan (interview on 29 May), Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood, Department of Earth Sciences, PU, Prof Dr Muhammad Zuber, former VC MNSUET, Multan, Muhammad Ashraf, Adjunct Professor, University of Sargodha, Muhammad Abbas Choudhary, Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education, Karachi (interview on 29 May), Prof Dr Muhammad Tufail, Department of Plant Protection, King Abdul Aziz University, KSA, (interview on 29 May via Skype), Prof Dr Muhammad Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Biology, King Abdul Aziz University, KSA, (interview on 29 May via Skype), Prof Dr Tayyab Husnain, Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology, PU, (interview on 29 May via Skype), Muhammad Iqbal, DG, National Physics and Standards Laboratory, Islamabad, Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid, VC, UET Lahore, Prof Dr Maqbool Hussain Sial, Chairman Quantitative Methods, UMT, Lahore, Prod Dr Mobashar Ahmad, Dean & Director College of Pharmacy, PU, Prof Dr Muhammad Zakria Zakar, Dean Faculty of Behavioral & Social Sciences, PU, former interim PU VC, Prof Dr Islam Ullah Khan, Dean Faculty of Science & Technology, GCU Lahore, Prof Dr Riaz Ahmad, Dean Faculty of Engineering, GCU, Lahore, Prof Dr Syed Mansoor Sarwar, Principal PU College of Information Technology (PUCIT), Syed Muhammad Awais, Executive Director, Institute of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation (interview on 29 May), Prof Dr Tahir Kamran, Dean Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, GCU, Lahore, Prof Dr Allah Bakhsh, Dean Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Prof Dr Tariq Mahmood Ansari, Dean Faculty of Sciences, BZU, Multan, and Prof Dr Hanif Akhtar, BZU, Multan.

The VC Search Committee for Punjab University comprises Razzaq Dawood, CEO Descon Engineering (convener), Dr Umar Saif, VC Information Technology University (ITU) Lahore (member), Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, Chairman Accreditation Committee Punjab (member), Ms Fauzia Viqar, Chairperson Punjab Commission on Women (member) and Secretary Higher Education Department (HED) Punjab as member and secretary of the committee.