Indian-born Paul Chandrasekharan Sabapathy, Chairman of the University of Central England, has become the first non-white Lord Lieutenant of England.

The announcement appointing Sabapathy, CBE, as Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant for the County of the West Midlands was made

by the Queen over the weekend, a release said.

He will be the Queen's personal representative to the county. The 64-year-old Sabapathy was also the first non-white chairman of a British University. Born in Chennai, Sabapathy moved to the UK in 1964 and had a 28-year career in the industry.