A Nepali student, Dr. Pukar Malla, has been elected as the President of
the Harvard Graduate Council for the academic year 2010/11.

Malla
is a Masters in Public Administration candidate at the Harvard Kennedy
School of Government. This is the first time that a Nepali national has
been elected to such an esteemed position at Harvard.

The
graduate council is a representative student government of the twelve
graduate and professional schools at Harvard and serves the interests of
the 13,600 graduate students at Harvard. The council advocates student
issues to the central administration, fosters cross-university
collaboration and nurtures social ambience among the graduate students,
according to fellow Harvard student Bisundev Mahato.

Malla's team
recently organised the inaugural Harvard Leadership Conference, where
300 students and 41 speakers participated. Former Prime Minister of
Haiti, Michele Pierre-Louis, Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal and US
Congressman Ed Markey were the keynote speakers. This year, the council
also aims to officialise university-wide student groups.

Malla
finished his high schooling in Nepal from St. Xavier's and
Budhanilkantha schools. In the US, he has been educated at acclaimed
institutions including Swarthmore, Cornell and Harvard. He has been an
active member of the Nepali community in the US. He is the Co-Founder
and Secretary General of the global Nepali youth movement, Nepal Ko
Yuwa. He is an International Coordination Council member of the NRN
Association and a Co-Founder of the Computer-Association of Nepal - USA.