An Australian, Dr Peter Khan, is one of two members of the Baha’i international governing body who are leaving Haifa, Israel, after decades of service at the Baha’i World Centre.
Dr Khan, 73, and Mr Hooper Dunbar, 72, of the United States, are relinquishing their positions on the elected nine-member Universal House of Justice owing to their advanced age and the burden of work associated with membership.
One of the two new members of the Universal House of Justice elected in a by-election is also an Australian, Mr Stephen Hall, a former secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia. The other new member is Mr Stephen Birkland of the United States.
Elected
Dr Khan was first elected to the Universal House of Justice in 1987 and has served as a member since that time.
Born in New South Wales, he gained a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Sydney. He went on to hold several professorial positions including at the University of New South Wales and the University of Queensland.
Dr Khan has published widely in his profession and is a fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and a senior member of the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
His Baha’i service included membership on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia and the Continental Board of Counsellors for Australasia before his appointment in 1983 as a member of the International Teaching Centre in Haifa. He served in that capacity until his election to the Universal House of Justice.
Dr Khan has lectured widely on Baha’i subjects and has written numerous articles on the Baha’i Faith. With his wife, Dr Janet Khan, he is the author of “Advancement of Women: A Baha’i Perspective”. They will now make their home in Australia.
Mr Dunbar, 72, has served in Haifa since 1973 when he was called to the Baha’i World Centre as a member of the International Teaching Centre. He was first elected to the Universal House of Justice in 1988 and since then has been elected to successive terms. For more information on Mr Dunbar visit the Baha’i World News Service.
The regular election of all nine members of the Universal House of Justice occurs every five years, the next to be at the International Baha’i Convention in 2013. Members of the nine-member, national Baha’i governing bodies around the world are the electors.