WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR ACCEPTS PRESTIGIOUS TASK FORCE POSITION

Maya Chadda, professor of political science at William Paterson University in Wayne, has accepted a position on the Task Force on India and South Asia. The team is headed by Washington-based executive director Dennis Kux and is a project of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Asia Society, both located in New York City.

Dr. Chadda is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that is not associated with the United States government but has helped the country find its place in the world since its founding in 1921. Dedicated to the belief that the United States’s peace and prosperity are linked to the rest of the world, its mission is to foster America’s understanding of other nations through study and debate.

The unfolding crisis between India and Pakistan since the December 13 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament is the primary reason for the creation of the Task Force on India and South Asia and this team will take the Council’s charge one step further. The Task Force will pose opportunities on how the United States can play a further constructive role in helping these troubled neighbors initiate a process that one day will enable them to have less confrontational relations.

Chadda’s most recent book, “Building Democracy in South Asia: India, Nepal, Pakistan,” is one of several based on original research in her native country of India and its neighbors. Her understanding of this volatile area and its peoples coupled with her research make her a leading authority in the politics of South Asia and the Middle East. In responding to the horror of the World Trade Center attacks and the current India-Pakistan crisis, Chadda’s expertise was called on by several print and broadcast media outlets including MSNBC, Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” New Jersey Network, National Public Radio, and “U.S. News and World Report.”

William Paterson University, one of nine state colleges and universities in New Jersey, offers 30 undergraduate and 18 graduate programs through five colleges: Arts and Communication, Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Health. Located on 370 hilltop acres in Wayne, the university enrolls approximately 10,500 students and provides housing for nearly 2,300 students. The institution’s 363 full-time faculty are highly distinguished and diverse scholars and teachers, many of whom are recipients of prestigious awards and grants.

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1/15/02
For Further Information, contact:

Mary Beth Zeman, Director, Public Relations 973-720-2966