Mr. Brian Long joined COL on 1 September 1998 as Director with responsibilities for programme and staff management, resource allocation and representation to the wider community. In June 2000, he was promoted to Vice President and in July 2002, he was given the additional responsibility as Chief Operating Officer of COL International and of overseeing COL's fee-for-service activity.

Sadly, his health deteriorated in 2005 and he had to step down from the Vice Presidency in September on medical advice.

Sir John Daniel, President and CEO of COL, noted that, "it was a privilege to work with Brian. As well as carrying out his formal duties with distinction, his friendly personality and care for each member of staff helped to create the very pleasant working environment that COL enjoys."

Prior to joining COL, Mr. Long was a long-time member of Canada's foreign affairs service. His last position being Director of the International Academic Relations Division placed him at the centre of Canada's actions in international education. In that role, he was also a persuasive and knowledgeable advocate for COL and the Commonwealth.

He has received a number of honours for his work in support of Canadian Studies internationally.

Brian continues to take an active interest in COL's work as well as in politics, economics and human resource development. Our best wishes go with him in this next phase of his life.

Associate Professor Wayne Mackintosh will join COL as Education Specialist, Educational Technology: Policy on 1 May 2006. The founding director of the Centre for Flexible and Distance Learning (CFDL) at the University of Auckland, Mr. Mackintosh has extensive experience in the theory and practice of open and distance learning. At the University of Auckland, he was responsible for implementing eLearning strategy and leading the CFDL team. Previously, he worked at the University of South Africa (UNISA) for 11 years. A committed advocate of free/libre and open source software for education, Mr. Mackintosh was the project leader for the eLearning XHTML editor (eXe) project. In his new role with COL, he will help Commonwealth countries realise their educational potential through information and communications technologies (ICTs) for development.

The Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) welcomes Mr. Nanda Kumar as its Head of Finance and Administration. A chartered accountant, Mr. Kumar brings with him over 20 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. He takes over from Mr. Dalip Kumar Tetri, who has returned to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) as its new Registrar. Dr. Pankaj Khare, Programme Officer with CEMCA is also returning to IGNOU, taking on the position of Deputy Director with the International Division.