Beyond Elitism: My Contributions to Establishing True Universities in Papua New Guinea

“Nations fail because their extractive economic institutions do not create the incentives needed for people to save, invest, and innovate. Extractive political (and educational AS) institutions support these economic institutions by cementing the power of those who benefit from the extraction.”

― Daron Acemoğlu, quote from Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.”

Introduction

In February 2012, I,  took on the role of Vice Chancellor at Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUOT), with the goal of transforming it into a true university that serves its students and produces competent and employable graduates. In this role, I was also Council member of the University of Papua New Guinea, and I became Vice-Chair of the National Rectors' conference in 2016. 

Although I had already worked 12 years in Central America, when these societies were recovering from decades of civil war, and I had read up in anthropology about Papua New Guinea, the reality of operating in such a violent environment ridden with crime and corruption was entirely new to me. Professionally, the challenges were less since I had already worked 5 years as Academic Director and Director of Development at leading universities in the Netherlands. However, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to face.

With bonnet, and Maastricht University tie

My 6 years as Vice Chancellor, spread over two tenures, can be divided into three key phases: taking over the "worst university in the world" from 2012-2013, a period of exile and preparation from 2013-2014, and implementing reforms from 2014-2018.

How the University of Pennsylvania's Culture Failed Katalin Karikó and mRNA Research

Background

Katalin Karikó is a Hungarian-born biochemist who is widely recognized as one of the pioneers of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which has revolutionized the field of vaccine development and led to the creation of the highly effective COVID-19 vaccines by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. ¹²³ This year she received the Nobel Prize for medical physiology for her work.

However, before she achieved this remarkable feat, she faced decades of rejection, frustration, and demotion at the University of Pennsylvania, where she worked as a researcher from 1989 to 2013. ⁴⁵

In this blog post, I will explore how the university culture at Penn failed to appreciate and nurture Karikó's talent and vision, and how this reflects on the challenges and limitations of academic research in general.

How I wish to measure my life and career

Introduction

One distinguishing feature of my career, it that I have lived and worked in many different countries, something I always chose to do out of my own initiative. In fact, two thirds of my working life I spent in the Global South. I lived in some of the poorest countries in the world, some ravaged by civil strife, where child mortality is high and life expectancy short. In some of these countries, polio, cholera and leprosy are still common. Sadly, in Papua New Guinea for example, even tribal warfare and witch burning are still regular occurrences and widely reported in the newspapers. In a few weeks, I will be starting a new professional challenge in a neighboring European country, a few hours' drive away. For me a minor transition.

Lecturing about research support at universities in 2010 in Turkey

Friends and family often ask me why I am moving again. The short answer is that I always seek decent, meaningful work and respectful employers so that I can contribute to my community and society at large. However, the longer answer is more complex. Looking back, the main reasons for moving about can be partly attributed to "Fortuna" or fate, partly my decisions to leave when prospects seemed dim, and partly due to my value-based choice for meaningful work and making a difference in the world.

Tackling the Global Education Crisis: how combining a modern pedagogical approach with today's learning technologies can boost the quality of education

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Addressing the Global Crisis in Education

During the past two centuries, most countries have successfully established primary and secondary school systems and made education compulsory for a number of years. However, the emphasis has primarily been on access and enrollment, and many children who attend school are not actually learning. Shockingly, over 600 million children and adolescents worldwide are unable to reach the minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, despite two-thirds of them attending school according to UNICEF.