“University of the People is an excellent initiative to provide access to quality education to a larger segment of society - overcoming the barriers of time and space."
Abdul Waheed Khan, Ph.D., is currently the President of Talal Abu Ghazaleh Business University, Bahrain, and Senior Adviser to the Arab Open University. Dr. Kahn was previously the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Prior to joining UNESCO, he served as Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University in New Delhi, and the Founding Director and Professor of its Communications Division.
Prior to joining UNESCO, Dr. Khan served as Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in New Delhi, and the Founding Director and Professor of its Communications Division. He was also the Senior Program Officer and Acting Head of the Communications and Information Technologies Division of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Throughout his career, Dr. Khan has provided consultancy services to a number of international agencies such as the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Dr. Khan is the recipient of several awards and distinctions such as the "Distinguished Service Award" from COL, "India 2000 Millennium Award for Education and World Peace" and “Super Brain of India Gold Award 2000.” In January 2005, he became an honorary Doctor of Science, awarded by the Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi, and in 2006 he was awarded the 2006 Dayawati Modi Award for Art, Culture and Education. In July 2008 he received a prestigious honorary fellowship from COL.
