Oscar Wambrauw

Oscar Oswald Oktovianus Wambrauw was born in Biak, Papua, on 8 October 1968, and devoted his working life to Cenderawasih University, the oldest campus in Tanah Papua. Colleagues remembered him as a diligent and humble rector, a leader who rose through teaching and administration rather than sudden appointment, and who treated senior academics with quiet respect even when he held the highest office.

After high school he studied at Uncen's Faculty of Economics, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1994. He then went to Germany and earned a Master of Science in agriculture from the University of Göttingen in 1999. Returning to Jayapura, he joined Uncen as a lecturer in management sciences. He later completed a doctorate in management at Brawijaya University in Malang in 2013 and was soon promoted to chief lector. Teaching and faculty service remained the foundation of his identity: he began in the Management Department of what became the Faculty of Economics and Business, and faculty leaders later called him one of FEB Uncen's finest sons.

Administrative trust followed classroom work. Around November 2016 he was serving as First Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics. About 2019 the rector asked him to head Uncen's higher education database (PDPT). On 1 December 2021 he became First Vice Rector for academic affairs. When previous rector Apolo Safanpo left to serve as acting governor of South Papua, Wambrauw was appointed rector on 22 November 2022 to complete the transition. On 7 September 2023 the university senate elected him for a full 2023-2027 term, with 24 of 37 senate votes plus the ministry representative's weighted vote. Minister Nadiem Makarim installed him on 25 September 2023.

As rector he pressed students into public service through the Patriot Expedition, a transmigration ministry programme mapping potentials in transmigration areas. He also steered Uncen's move toward stronger public-service university status and faculty development. On 30 January 2026 he was inaugurated as a full professor of strategy management and information systems, among Uncen's growing professoriate.

Wambrauw died at RSUD Dok II in Jayapura on 17 September 2026, aged 57. Local obituaries stressed courtesy and warmth. Faculty of Economics and Business Dean Dr Otniel Safkaur said the university had lost its rector and FEB had lost a son who grew from lecturer to faculty and university leadership. Transmigration Minister Iftitah Sulaiman paid condolences and recalled Wambrauw's support for student involvement in the Patriot Expedition. He was married and had two children. Papua's oldest university lost a Biak-born academic who carried its classrooms into provincial and national service.