Honorary doctorates for COL leaders
Dr. Lewis Perinbam, Chair of COL's Board of Governors, recently received an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Saluted as "Canada's Dean of International Development", Dr. Perinbam was recognised for his leadership and service in the field of international development.
Sir John Daniel, COL President and Chief Executive Officer, recently received two honorary degrees. In April, Netaji Subhas Open University in Kolkata, India, awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters. In May, Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC, Canada, also awarded Sir John an honorary Doctor of Letters in the new university's first convocation ceremony.
COL Board
The Chair of COL's Board of Governors, Dr. Lewis Perinbam, is pleased to announce two new appointments:
. Ms. Jennifer Glennie, Director of the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE), has been appointed to the Board as the representative for South Africa. Well known within distance education circles in South and Southern Africa, Ms. Glennie has played an important role in distance education developments within various African countries and has contributed to open and distance learning internationally. She was named an Honorary Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning in 2002. South Africa was recently given a seat on the Board of Governors after increasing its funding to COL.
. Mr. Sudeep K. Banerjee, Secretary, Department of Secondary and Higher Education in India's Ministry of Human Resource Development, joins COL's Board as India's representative. He succeeds Mr. B.S. Baswan, who retired from government service earlier this year. In an administrative career spanning over three decades, Mr. Banerjee has held important national and state government posts, including Director General of the National Literacy Mission. An award-winning author of four books, three collections of poems and one play, Mr. Banerjee has also served on the boards of many institutions linked to education including the International Literacy Institute in Philadelphia.
www.col.org/board
COL Staff
Mr. Vis Naidoo, Education Specialist, Educational Technology Policy & Planning, has returned to his native South Africa after five years at COL. Mr. Naidoo has accepted the position of CEO of Mindset Network, a non-profit organisation that addresses the educational challenges of schooling, health and livelihood through the delivery of free education content via satellite networks.
While at COL, Mr. Naidoo worked with Commonwealth Governments and organisations to help them focus on educational technology policy and applications and its impact on education and training systems within an open and distance learning context. He was also active in leading the development of schoolnets.
"Vis' career is a nice example of what should be a growing trend, namely the return of African leaders to Africa after they have acquired valuable experience outside this continent," said Sir John Daniel, President of COL, in a recent speech to the African Council of Distance Education.
www.mindset.co.za