Rajesh Chandra was a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an academic. In February 2005 he was appointed the first

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the newly founded

University of Fiji The University of Fiji is a university based in Saweni, Lautoka, Fiji. It was established in December 2004 under academic leadership of the Fiji Institute of Applied Studies and financial sponsorship of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji, a Hindu ...

. He served as Vice-Chancellor and President of

The University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

(USP) ending his term in December 2018. After his retirement, he was appointed the Chancellor of Fiji National University, holding office from April 2019 until January 2020 when he stepped down for medical reasons. He died on 16 November 2023 after a long illness.

University of the South Pacific career

Chandra served on the staff of the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

(USP), the South Pacific Islands regional university, from 1975 to 2005, before taking up the Vice-Chancellorship of the new University of Fiji. He was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the USP for nine years, and also served for three years as Acting Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic), and Director of Planning and Development. From 1987 to 1988, he was Head of the School of Social and Economic Development, and from 1994 to 1996, of the Geography Department. In early June 2013, USP's council cleared Chandra of allegations (based on a petition circulated by a group called USP-devoted IE for Justice) of corruption and abuse of authority. After retiring from USP in December 2018, Chandra's successor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, alleged he had found evidence of significant abuse of office during Chandra's tenure. This included the promotion and overpayment of favoured managers and the systematic abuse of allowances and privileges, amounting to millions of dollars. The matter was investigated by New Zealand accounting firm BDO, which substantiated many of the allegations but the report was suppressed by the USP Council. The subsequent scandal over poor governance and mismanagement was widely documented in the international media. The University Council decided to move the headquarters of USP from Fiji to Samoa in protest at the Fiji Government's interference in the management of the regional institution.

References

The University of the South Pacific website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Rajesh 2023 deaths People from Nadroga-Navosa Province University of the South Pacific alumni Fijian Hindus Year of birth missing University of British Columbia alumni Academic staff of the University of Fiji Vice-chancellors of the University of the South Pacific Fijian expatriates in Canada