Issue 7 - Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United ...

ALUMNI IN ACTION
Alumni News
BRITISH ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP FOR
FORMER SCHOLAR
Dr Emmanuel Akpabio (Commonwealth Split-site
Scholar, PhD in Environmental and Resource
Management, University of Uyo and Lancaster
University, 2004-2006) has undertaken a British
Academy Visiting Fellowship at Newcastle University
from May-August 2008 on the project ‘Indigenous
water management and the challenges of state
institutions in the Cross River basin, Nigeria’.
ALUMNUS AWARDED FULBRIGHT
FELLOWSHIP
Professor V K Kapoor (Commonwealth Fellow,
Epidemiology Unit, King’s College London, 1996-
1997) has been awarded a Fulbright Visiting Lecturer
Fellowship at the Department of Surgery at Oregon
Health and Science University, USA, from August-
November 2008. He will also lecture at a number of
other institutions in the US and attend the annual
meeting of the American College of Surgeons.
Professor Kapoor is based at the Sanjay Gandhi
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, India.
FORMER SCHOLAR AWARDED BRITISH
COUNCIL RESEARCH GRANT
Dr Amam Zonaed Siddiki (Commonwealth Scholar,
PhD in Molecular Parasitology, University of Liverpool,
2002-2006) has been awarded a Development
Partnerships in Higher
Education (DelPHE) grant.
His project, ‘Capacity
development towards risk
analysis and prevention of
zoonoses in Bangladesh’, is
a collaboration between the
International Center for
Diarrhoeal Diseases and
Dr Amam Siddiki,
former Commonwealth
Scholar
Research, Bangladesh
(ICCDDRB) and the
University of Liverpool, UK,
and was developed with his
PhD supervisor, Dr
Jonathan Wastling (now a Commonwealth
Scholarship Commissioner). The team is developing a
new curriculum on public health for veterinary
undergraduate students and a website containing
research publications on zoonotic diseases in
Bangladesh and South Asia.
MALTESE ECONOMIST CONTRIBUTES TO
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Professor Lino Briguglio (Commonwealth Academic
Staff Scholar, PhD in Economics, University of
Exeter, 1979-1982), Head of the Economics
Department at the University of Malta, has been
presented with a certificate for his role as one of the
lead authors of the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
last year.
The IPCC has produced a series of scientific reports
over the last twenty years, drawing on those with an
expertise in climate change and its effects. The IPCC
was established in 1988 by the World
Meteorological Organisation and the United
Nations Environment Programme. It is tasked with
assessing scientific data on the risk of humaninduced
climate change and its potential impacts.
NEW UNIVERSITY FOR
THE SEYCHELLES
Dr Rolph Payet
(Commonwealth Scholar,
BSc in Biochemistry,
University of East Anglia,
1989-1992), Special Advisor
to the President of the
Seychelles, is also Chairman
of the Seychelles University
Foundation. The foundation
Dr Rolph Payet
former
Commonwealth
Scholar
is organising the creation of
the first university for the Seychelles. More
information can be found at www.sufoundation.sc
Alumni Events
MAURITIUS ALUMNI CHAPTER AGM
The fourth annual general meeting of the UK
Commonwealth Alumni Chapter – Mauritius was held
in April 2008. Dr Roshan Ramessur (Commonwealth
Scholar, BSc in Marine Chemistry, Bangor University,
1985-1988), Associate Professor at the University of
Mauritius, was elected as UKCAC President from
2008-2010. Events held in 2008 have included an
alumni dinner in May at Westminster House, the
residence of the British High Commissioner to
Mauritius. More information is available at
http://ukcac-mauritius.tripod.com
GHANA ALUMNI RECEPTION
HE Dr Nicholas Westcott, British High Commissioner to
Ghana, hosted a reception on 29 May 2008 to celebrate
the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan
(CSFP), the Chevening Scholarships Programme and
the work of the Open University in supporting higher
education in Africa. Guests included alumni from both
scholarship programmes, officials from the UK
Department for International Development (DFID) and
the British Council, and senior Ghanaian academics and
officials. Speakers at the event were the High
Commissioner, Professor Tim Unwin (Commonwealth
Scholarship Commissioner) and Professor David
Vincent (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Open University, UK). The
occasion provided a valuable opportunity for alumni to
learn about new developments in the CSFP, including
arrangements to celebrate its 50th Anniversary.
In Brief
AWARD AND CAREER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Professor Md. Ruhul Amin (Commonwealth
Fellow, Institute of Electromagnetics Research,
University of Nottingham, 2006-2007) has been
appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Electrical and
Computer Engineering at Rajshahi University of
Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.
Professor Joan Beaumont (Commonwealth Scholar,
PhD in War Studies, King’s College London, 1971-
1974) has recently been appointed Director (Dean) of
the Faculty of Arts at the Australian National University.
Professor Md Rabiul Islam (Commonwealth Fellow,
Chemistry Department, University of Manchester,
1989-1990) has been appointed Chair of the Chemistry
division at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.
Faisal Ferozali Notta (Commonwealth Distance
Learning Scholar, MA in Education and International
Development, Institute of Education, University of
London, 2004-2006) was a panellist speaker at the
International Symposium on Student Affairs and
Student Services, organised by the National Association
of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) in
Boston, Massachusetts, USA in March 2008.
Professor Walter Woon (Commonwealth Academic
Staff Scholar, LLM in Law, University of Cambridge,
1982-1983) has been appointed Attorney-General of
Singapore, from 11 April 2008.
Keep in touch
Please keep us informed of your news, such as
significant research, new senior appointment, major
publication or national honour or award. We also
welcome feedback on any aspect of this
publication. You can get in touch by emailing
comments@cscuk.org.uk or you can write to:
Jocelyn Law
Alumni Development Officer
Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the
United Kingdom
c/o The Association of Commonwealth Universities
Woburn House, 20-24 Tavistock Square,
London WC1H 9HF, UK
We appreciate all your feedback and contributions,
although it may not always be possible for us to
include all your news, due to the amount of space
available on these pages.
September 2008 13