| VANCOUVER - Dr. Lewis Perinbam, O.C., Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Vancouver-based Commonwealth of Learning (COL) today announced the appointment of Sir John Daniel, a world-renowned authority in open and distance learning and currently Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO, as President and Chief Executive Officer of COL. He succeeds Dato' Professor Gajaraj (Raj) Dhanarajan who retires in May. A graduate of the universities of Oxford and Paris, Sir John began his academic career at École Polytechnique in Montreal. The "revelation" of a three-month internship at the new UK Open University in 1972 led him to refocus his career on expanding educational opportunity. After helping to establish the Télé-université (Quebec) and Athabasca University (Alberta) in the 1970s, he gained leadership experience in campus universities during the 1980s as Vice-Rector, Academic of Concordia University (Montreal) and as President of Laurentian University, a bilingual Ontario university that operates in both classroom and distance modes. Sir John was Vice-Chancellor of the UK Open University (UKOU) from 1990-2001, a period when student numbers almost doubled, to 200,000, while the UKOU rose to fifth place in national rankings of teaching quality. Since 2001 he has been Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO where he is responsible, in particular, for coordinating the global drive to achieve Education for All. He has also held various non-executive posts in education, notably the presidency of the International Council for Distance Education and the vice-presidency of the International Baccalaureate Organisation. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth for services to higher education in 1994, the honour recognised the leading role Sir John has played internationally, over three decades, in the development of distance learning in universities. Commenting on his appointment, Sir John said, "Having chaired COL's original planning committee in 1988, I am delighted by the strong reputation it has so quickly established. Governments now realise that open and distance learning, using appropriate technology, can transform education by extending access, raising quality and cutting costs - all at the same time. COL is there to help the developing countries of the Commonwealth make this possibility a reality. I greatly look forward to seeing COL achieve even greater impact." Sir John has been active as a scholar and student throughout his career. The success of his book, "Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education" (Kogan Page, 1996), established his reputation in international university circles as a leading thinker about the role of technology in academic communities. He has been awarded 20 honorary degrees from universities in 12 countries. He is a citizen of Canada and the U.K. In making the announcement, Perinbam said, "Sir John Daniel will bring to the Commonwealth of Learning impressive credentials as a world leader in distance and open learning. He is a person of international stature who will take COL to new heights of achievement. COL is fortunate to be assured of his bold and imaginative leadership in the years ahead." COL is an intergovernmental organisation that was created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. Sir John will take up his new post in Vancouver in June. |