Professor Asha Singh Kanwar became Vice President of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) on 1 April 2006 and assumed additional responsibility as Programme Director in April 2007. She is specifically responsible for stakeholder engagement and programme direction.

Before joining COL, Professor Kanwar was a consultant in open and distance learning at UNESCO's Regional Office for Education in Africa (BREDA) in Dakar, Senegal.

Professor Kanwar's engagement with distance education began when she joined Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) where she served as Professor, Director of the School of Humanities and Pro-Vice Chancellor. Professor Kanwar has over 30 years of experience in teaching, research and administration.

A recipient of several awards and fellowships, Professor Kanwar brings with her the experience of having studied and worked in different contexts, both developing and developed. She received her undergraduate, Master's and MPhil degrees from the Panjab University in India and a DPhil from the University of Sussex. She was also a Fulbright Fellow for post-doctoral research at Iowa State University, where she was later invited to teach. Professor Kanwar received the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) Prize of Excellence in 2009.