Prof Asha Kanwar, former pro-VC, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), has been  appointed as president and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning COL Canada, the renowned international organisation. She will take up her duties wef June 1, 2012.

At present, Prof Kanwar is vice president,COL and she succeeds Sir John Daniel whose term ends May 31. Dr Kanwar has over 30 years of experience in teaching, research and administration. In addition to the several books, research papers and articles to her credit, she has made significant contributions to gender studies, especially the impact of distance education on the lives of Asian women. These studies have established that better educational opportunities and access to new technologies have made substantial differences to the attitudes, values and concerns of Asian women.