Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: Prof Dr Bibek Baral has been appointed the vice-chancellor of Kathmandu University (KU). Prime Minister and University Chancellor Balendra Shah appointed Baral on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor Selection and Recommendation Committee.

Minister for Education and Sports Sasmit Pokharel handed over the appointment letter to the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor at the Ministry today. The committee led by Education Minister Pokharel had recommended the names of three candidates including Baral to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Shah appointed Baral as the vice-chancellor based on the same recommendation.

The senate meeting of Kathmandu University held on June 2 had formed a recommendation committee under the coordination of Education Minister Pokharel to appoint a new vice-chancellor. The committee comprises National Planning Commission member Reshu Aryal Dhungana and chairperson of Kathmandu University Protection Committee Suresh Raj Sharma.

Baral is a professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kathmandu University. He is the first person to become the vice-chancellor of the same university. He was a student of the second batch of engineering at the university.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kathmandu University, a Master’s Degree from Tokyo University and a PhD from Auckland University, New Zealand. Baral’s expertise is in Fuel and Energy, Combustion Science and Environmental Pollution, Thermofluid Engineering and Computational Fluid Dynamics. He became an assistant professor and an associate professor.