Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan, a Malaysian with a doctorate in biology, is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading advocates and experts in Open Distance Learning.

He brings with him a wealth of international experience from his previous nine-year tenure as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), a Vancouver-based Commonwealth agency with a mandate to promote open learning among the 54 member nations.

A pioneer at home and abroad

Dr Dhanarajan has helped establish the Open Learning Institute (OLI) of Hong Kong (now the Open University of Hong Kong or OUHK). He was initially appointed OLI’s Associate Director (Academic) in 1989 and then promoted to Director three years later. Upon completion of his term as CEO in 1995, he was conferred the title Emeritus Professor for his role in transforming the Institute from its humble beginnings into a leading provider of open learning.

Dr Dhanarajan began his academic career in 1970 as a lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences in the newly established Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang. He grew increasingly involved in open distance learning at the national and regional levels and was appointed Associate Professor in Distance Education and later, Deputy Director of USM’s Centre for Off-Campus Studies, where he served until 1987.

Much sought after for his expertise in open learning, Dr Dhanarajan has contributed to the establishment of distance education systems in a string of countries in Africa and the Asia Pacific region. He has also participated in global discussions with a broad range of international financial institutions and development agencies.

International recognition

Despite his busy schedule, Dr Dhanarajan has served on a number of boards and committees. He was Secretary General of the Asian Association of Open Universities, a member of the Executive Board of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE), and educational advisor to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

He currently chairs the Programme Advisory Committee of the Global Open Food and Agricultural University, which is an initiative of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). He also chairs the Academic Planning Board of Manipal University in Banglore, India.

Dr Dhanarajan holds MSc degrees from the University of Madras and the Imperial College of the University of London and a PhD in Biology from the University of Aston in Birmingham.

In recognition of his vast contribution to the development of open distance learning, he has received a string of honorary doctorates from the University of Maryland University College, USA (1992); the Open University, UK (1995); Kota Open University, India (1996); the University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland (1996); Charles Sturt University, Australia (1998); Athabasca University, Canada (1999); Allama Iqbal Open University, Pakistan (1999); the OUHK (1999); and the Open University of Sri Lanka (2000).

An illustrious career

In 1994, the Penang state government in Malaysia conferred on Dr Dhanarajan the Order of Chivalry (which conveys the title of Dato') in recognition of his services to open distance learning.

Two years later, The College of Preceptors, London, awarded him an Honorary Fellowship. The following year, the Asian Association of Open Universities presented him with its first Meritorious Service Award to the Cause of Distance Education in Asia. He was also named a Fellow of the Teachers’ Institute by the National Teachers’ Institute, Nigeria, in 2004.

Upon his retirement as President of COL in 2004, Dr Dhanarajan returned to Malaysia to assume his present position at the helm of Wawasan Open - a homecoming, after working abroad for 15 years. He currently resides with his wife, Sue Yee Ah Fong, and family in Penang, the place where his career first took off.