The newly appointed Vice Chancellor and President of the National University of Samoa Professor Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma was officially welcomed by the staff members of NUS during an ava ceremony this morning.
The ava ceremony was organized and implemented by the Centre for Samoan Studies and was held at the falesamoa at NUS. The occasion was attended by the Minister of Education, the Honorable Loau Solamalemalo Keneti Sio and the Minister of Communication and Information Technology the Honorable Afamasaga Rico Tupa’i. Also present were some members of the NUS Council who were Faamausili Dr. Matagialofi Luaiufi and Professor Asiata Satupa’itea Viali, the interim Vice Chancellor Professor Silafau Sina Vaai, Deputy Vice Chancellor Peseta Desmond Lee Hang, Deans and Heads of Department of various faculties and staff members of NUS.
The Ministers congratulated Professor Aiono on his appointment and conveyed their best wishes for his term in leadership at the University. A spokesperson for NUS, Fesola’i Aleni Sofara also acknowledged the interim Vice Chancellor Professor Silafau Vaai and Deputy Vice Chancellor Peseta Lee Hang for managing the university for the last 8 months. He stated that the NUS staff were looking forward to working together under Professor Aiono’s guidance.
Professor Aiono replaces the former Vice Chancellor Professor Le’apai Tu’ua ‘Ilāoa Fui Lau Asofou So’o. He holds a PhD from Auckland University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Keele in the United Kingdom. Professor Aiono is also a Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and has vast experience as a lecturer for undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. He is an esteemed researcher of Pacific Health and has worked on governing boards of government, non-government and business committees.
