Professor Rob Whelan has been appointed president of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), which is commemorating its 15th year in the UAE.

The professor is a biologist and bushfire ecology expert. His association with the University of Wollongong, Australia, goes back 25 years where he has been Dean of the Faculty of Science since 2002.

“The UAE is creating a unique environment by attracting some of the world’s best universities to establish themselves here, offering opportunities for students from the region to pursue quality higher education, while remaining rooted in the local culture,' said Professor Whelan.

A Fulbright scholar who has worked in the UK and the US, he is an international authority on bushfires and author of the textbook The Ecology of Fire.

In 2004 he was one of three members of an expert panel that conducted the National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management for the Australian Government, said a statement.-TradeArabia News Service