TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
New Undip rector expected to maintain achievement
I am the champion: Prof
Change Size
I
span class="inline inline-center">I am the champion: Prof. Mohamad Nasir (left), who has been elected as rector of Diponegoro University in Semarang, stands alongside former rector Prof. Sudharto P. Hadi (second left) and losing candidates Prof. Syafruddin (second right) and Prof. Purwanto. Courtesy of Diponegoro University
Diponegoro University (Undip) school of economics and business dean Mohamad Nasir was elected the university's new rector for the 2014-2018 period, replacing Prof. Sudharto P. Hadi, during an election at the campus in Tembalang in Semarang, Central Java, on Monday.
Nasir won by a landslide, beating two others vying for the position ' accounting department head Prof. M. Syafruddin and Doctoral and Master in Environment Science program head Prof. Purwanto.
The election was participated by 126 of 133 senate members, with 72 votes from the Education and Culture Ministry represented by directorate general of higher education (Dikti) secretary Patdono Suwignyo. Nasir secured 148 of 198 votes, while Syafruddin and Purwanto gained 36 votes and 14 votes, respectively.
Patdono said the ministry was happy with the solid relationship among educators at the university and hoped the university would continue to excel academically.
'Undip is among the best state universities in Indonesia. The ministry expects the situation to remain the same under [the leadership of] the newly elected rector,' Patdono said.
Nasir said he wanted the university to become a leader in science and research. He said he also wanted to nurture students to not only become intelligent individuals but also individuals with character and strong morals.
Born in Ngawi, East Java, 54-year-old Nasir is the only Undip professor to have studied at an Islamic boarding school (pesantren). His educational background earned him the nickname of santri (Islamic school student) professor or professor santri.
'Professors with a santri background must be common at the State Academy of Islamic Studies [IAIN] but such a background is rare at Undip,' Nasir said.
Nasir was born into a devout Muslim family in a small village in Ngawi. He followed his father's footsteps by studying Islam at a pesantren. After graduating from a high school, Nasir studied accounting at the School of Economics at Undip.
'Although I have chose a completely new field of study, I am forever a santri,' he said.
He earned his Master's degree from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and his Doctorate degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia. Nasir, who has been teaching at Undip for 24 years, is an expert in behavioral and management accounting.
