Gambian university appoints new acting VC

The Governing Council of the University of The Gambia has appointed Professor Pierre Gomez as the acting vice chancellor.

While confirming the appointment, the Chairperson of the University Governing Council, Mathew P. Ndure, in a phone conversation said Pierre would serve as acting VC until a substantive vice chancellor is appointed.

Chairperson Ndure added that the process of appointing a substantive vice chancellor for the university is ongoing.

“To avoid any break in the decision-making continuum, the Governing Council directed Professor Pierre Gomez to assume the position of Vice Chancellor in an acting capacity, with effect from Thursday 16th September 2021 to the date of handover to a substantive Vice Chancellor,” the Governing Council of the University of The Gambia said in a statement

“This development came after the Governing Council decided at its Extraordinary Meeting on 14th September 2021, that the Vice Chancellor should handover the office of vice chancellor by 15th September 2021 to the most senior officer who had been deputizing for him in his absence, but for unexplained reasons, the handover has yet to take place,” the statement added.

Until this appointment, Gomez was the acting deputy vice chancellor academic at the University of The Gambia.

Professor Pierre Gomez got his Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English and French at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal in 1998. He proceeded to the University of Besançon in France for his Advanced Diploma in Education (Distinction) and then to the University of Limoges in France for his Master of Arts (Distinction), Master of Philosophy (Distinction) and PhD (Distinction) in Comparative Literature from 1999–2005. He did part of his doctoral research at Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone and SOAS (University of London, UK), the Council added.

He also served as the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, for 10 years during which he was awarded “The Best Dean of the Year Award” on three consecutive occasions, among other engagements nationally and internationally, according to the statement.

Gomez replaced Professor Faqir Muhammad Anjum whose tenure of office would expire on 30th September 2021.