PM appoints Dr Mukhtar as HEC chairman, Pervez as HBFC MD

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday sprang a surprise by naming Dr Mukhtar Ahmed as the new chairperson of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), a position that remained vacant for eight months.

The premier also appointed Pervez Said as Managing Director (MD) of the House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC). Said has served as CEO of the Burj Bank, worked in the Meezan Bank, Johnson & Johnson and the City Bank.

The HEC chairperson’s appointment came after a string of twists and turns in the process of appointment for this important post. The office of the HEC chairman has been lying vacant since August 26, 2013 when the first term of Dr Javaid Laghari ended. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on January 6, 2014 directed the federal government to appoint a permanent HEC chairman till February 12, 2014 in accordance with the law and the prescribed process. In response, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formed a search committee, chaired by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal.

The call for applications resulted in some 103 applications. Among them, 18 candidates were called for interviews by the previous search committee on February 10-11, 2014. The committee chose three names including HEC Executive Director Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, National Textile University Faisalabad Rector Dr Niaz Ahmad and former Karakoram International University Vice Chancellor Dr Najma Najam.

The prime minister initially did not agree to the nominated names and reconstituted another six-member committee. The new committee decided to again conduct the interviews of the 18 short-listed candidates but the process was delayed and sources close to the new committee, shared with The News that the prime minister stopped the process till he listened to the justification for the selection of three names by the previous search committee.

Professor Dr Mukhtar Ahmed has been the executive director of HEC since February 2013. The HEC executive director serves as the chief executive officer of the organisation. He was also the principal accounting officer of the commission. Being the HEC ED, Dr Ahmed was responsible for the implementation of reforms initiated by the Government of Pakistan in higher education sector.

Before joining the HEC, Dr Ahmed was deputy director general of Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Isesco) in Rabat, Morocco, and was responsible for the Directorates of Education, Science, Culture and Communication, ICPSR, CPID (Planning and Strategic Division) and Isesco regional centres. He persuaded Isesco’s agenda in all OIC conferences, conventions, including the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers and also various ministerial conferences in specified various areas of Isesco’s mandate.

Dr Ahmed was also responsible for preparing short-term and long-term programmes, including three-year action plans for the Isesco. He was also the Editor-in-chief, Isesco Journal of Science and Technology.

With a Bachelor and Master of Science from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, and Masters in Business Administration and PhD from the University of California, Riverside, USA, he has over 25 years of educational development and management experience at national and international levels, including teaching, research, academic administration, policy development, linking educational research to industry, commercialisation, introducing entrepreneurial approaches to education and a diverse range of educational development programs.

His career is enriched with diverse academic, research and administrative experience, both in public and private sectors of higher education in Pakistan. He has worked with numerous educational and other institutions in different capacities at national and international levels as lecturer, associate professor, professor, chairman/head of departments, dean, consultant, coordinator, project director, director student affairs, director campus, rector, acting executive director HEC, member (Operations and Planning) HEC, deputy director general Isesco and the executive director of HEC.