Co-Chair:- Sir John Daniel, President & CEO of The Commonwealth of Learning Sir John Daniel became President of COL in 2004 after gaining wide international experience in universities and the United Nations system.
He obtained his full-time university education in Metallurgy at Oxford and Paris and later demonstrated his commitment to lifelong learning by taking 25 years to complete a part-time Master's degree in Educational Technology at Concordia University. However, the internship for that programme, which took him to the UK Open University in 1972, was a life-changing experience. He saw the future of higher education and wanted to be part of it.
This quest took him on an international odyssey with appointments at the Télé-université (Directeur des Études, 1973-77), Athabasca University (Vice-President for Learning Services, 1978-80), Concordia University (Vice-Rector, Academic, 1980-84), Laurentian University (President, 1984-90), the UK Open University (Vice-Chancellor, 1990-2001) and UNESCO (Assistant Director-General for Education, 2001-04). Among Sir John's 290 publications are his books, Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education (Kogan Page, 1996) and Mega-Schools, Technology and Teachers: Achieving Education for All (Routledge, 2010). He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for services to higher education in 1994 and holds over 30 honorary doctorates, fellowships and professorships from universities and professional bodies in 16 countries. He is a citizen of Canada and the UK.
Commonwealth of Learning at the ceremony to launch preparations for the 6th Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Chennai, India on 10th October, 2009
Sir John Daniel became President of COL in 2004 after gaining wide international experience in universities and the United Nations system.
