The Wawasan Open University (WOU) community congratulate its founding Vice Chancellor Tan Sri Emeritus Prof Gajaraj Dhanarajan on his appointment to the governing Council of the United Nations University (UN University Council).
Prof Dhanarajan, who currently holds the position of Honorary Director, Institute for Research and Innovation at WOU, will serve for a term of six years from 2010 to 2016.
He is the only Malaysian among the total 14 new appointees to the UN University Council who replace members who are retiring from the Council this year. The other countries represented by the new members are – Japan, USA, France, Morocco, Brazil, UK, Sudan, Jamaica, China, Russia, Singapore, Bulgaria, and South Africa.
The new UN University Council members were appointed jointly by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, in consultation with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and other concerned UN agencies and programmes.
In a media release dated today, the United Nations University announced that the 14 new members join 10 members of the UN University Council who were appointed in 2007.
Rector of the UN University, Prof Dr Konrad Osterwalder, and three ex-officio members – the UN Secretary-General, UNESCO Director-General and UNITAR Executive Director – complete the Council membership.
The main functions of the Council are “to formulate the principles and policies of the University, govern its operations, and consider and approve its biennial budget and work programme.”
The UN University was established in 1973 by the United Nations General Assembly and commenced operations in 1975. The UN University today comprises a core system of research and training institutes and programmes located in 12 countries around the world, coordinated by the UN University Centre in Tokyo.
