Prof. Beban Sammy Chumbow outgoing Council Chair of UDs

Indelible Footprints of Progress set at UDs

Dschang,UDs/SIC-24/07/19.The Presidential decree N° 2014/047 of the 3^rd of February 2014, heralding the appointment of Prof. Beban Sammy Chumbow as Council chair of the University of Dschang was greeted with euphoria by the staff of UDs. Set at the helm of an institution which he had headed as Vice-Chancellor from 1998 to 2000, Prof Beban Sammy Chumbow was returning home with much expertise to foster the academic and developmental work he had begun at UDs. As Council Chair, taking over from Senator Francis Nkwain, pioneer council chair of the University of Dschang, Prof. Beban Sammy Chumbow had the great task of chairing the Council meetings, the highest decision body determining the financial and academic affairs of the University. Within his 5 years mandate he altogether held 11 Council meetings, the first in December 2014 and the last the 2^nd of July 2019. The meetings held in the presence of its, members, representatives to public, para-public and private structures of the nation were highly constructive and interesting as Prof. Chumbow’s eloquence, bilingual nature and expertise were great assets in conveying the plans and projects of UDs.

In the course of time major changes occurred within the council meeting with a decrease in membership from 43 to 13 according to presidential decree but Prof. Chumbow’s perceptiveness did not waver. His dream of seeing his University imbibe attributes of other foreign and prestigious Universities grew even stronger. The two annual sessions (June for the accounting session and December for the budgetary session) were one of the wonderful occasions during which he made known the merits of UDs through its Vice-Chancellor Prof. Roger Tsafack Nanfosso, especially for the excellent first position held by UDs disclosed by the various Webomatric rankings. Prof. Chumbow equally never failed to thank the Head of States through written messages for the 26,300 PBHEV laptops offered to UDs students, for the creation of the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UDs, etc. Thanks to his keen interest for development, he encouraged the creation of FONDUDs, which was able to raise funds for the construction of a Post-graduate School building for UDs. Despite prestigious positions offered him by national and foreign organizations, Prof. Emeritus, Chumbow did not lose sight of his expectations for the University of Dschang. His presence and availability in all key ceremonies like the matriculation ceremonies, official closing ceremonies, and University games were great evidences of his desire to see the University of Dschang always in the limelight. As he leaves for the University of Bamenda as Pro-Chancellor, following his appointment on the 11^th July 2019, he now hands over the baton of command and success to Prof. Ndembiyembe Paul Célestin, new Council Chair of UDs. The University of Dschang can only be grateful to Prof. Chumbow for the immense work, wishing him and the new Council Chair of UDs, great success in their endeavors at the helm of these University Institutions/ GC