Professor Rajmohan Gandhi of India has been elected as the new President of Initiatives of Change International. He succeeds Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun of Algeria, whose two year term ended on December 31.

Gandhi is a journalist and author. His comprehensive biography of his grandfather, Gandhi – a true story of a man, his people and an empire, was published late 2006 to critical acclaim. A French edition has also recently been published. His articles frequently appear in national newspapers. He has also written several other biographies, including one of his maternal grandfather, C. Rajagopalachari, the first Governor of independent India.

Gandhi is currently a research professor in the United States at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has served as a visiting professor at other universities in the USA and Japan and has several honorary degrees. In the 1990s, he served in the upper house (Rajya Sabha) of India's parliament.

Gandhi's association with Initiatives of Change goes back to his days as a student in Scotland. In 1963 he led a “March on Wheels” across India inspiring thousands to work for “a clean, strong and united India”. After the march, in response to many requests for further training, Gandhi took initiatives to develop an IofC training and conference centre, Asia Plateau, at Panchgani in Maharashtra State which opened in 1968. The center has offered training in ethics and leadership to thousands of people from industry, politics, the military and other sectors. From 1964 to 1981 he edited Himmat, a national weekly magazine published in Mumbai.

Other books by Gandhi include Eight Lives – a study of the Hindu-Muslim encounter, biographies of Ghaffar Khan, (a Muslim Pashtun, sometimes called the Frontier Gandhi) and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, (independent India's first Home Minister) and Revenge & Reconciliation: Understanding South Asian History. A particular focus of Gandhi's personal and professional life has been to foster better relationships between Hindus and Muslims.

Mohamed Sahnoun, a former Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations, continues his close association with Initiatives of Change International as Chair of the Caux Forum for Human Security, which he initiated. The first Caux Forum in 2008 addressed the root causes of human insecurity and was attended by 300 diplomats, politicians, media personalities and leaders of civil society. The next forum will seek appropriate responses to climate change and the current economic crisis. During his two years as President, Sahnoun worked to bring the IofC perspective of practical reconciliation based on change in people into numerous international forums. He also did much to underline the vital importance of listening deeply to the perspectives and concerns of people from every culture and background.