By Ahmed Wafi
GOMBAK, 10 August 2018: All speculations and rumours have been put to rest following an announcement of the Ministry of Education recently that Professor Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak has been appointed the sixth Rector of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) effective 1 August.
He replaces Professor Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin who completed her term on 31 July.
In a statement, the Ministry of Education said, “We believe that with his experience and leadership, he will be able to administer IIUM towards excellence and place the university as a global centre of reference in Islamic knowledge.”
Prof. Tan Sri Dzulkifli is seen as the right man for the job having had vast experience at both local and international levels. He is the 14th President of the International Association of Universities (IAU), a UNESCO-based organisation in Paris. He became the first Malaysian to be elected to the post after its formation more than six decades ago.
He was also the President of Association of Southeast Asia Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL) from 2007 to 2008, and served in the Executive Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities from 2006 until 2011.
Prior to his new appointment, Tan Sri Dzulkifli was holding the Chair of Board of Governance of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), after being the first holder of the Chair of Islamic Leadership and Principal Fellow at the Faculty of Leadership and Management of the same university.
Tan Sri Dzulkifli was the fifth Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) from 2000 to 2011. Under his leadership, USM gained the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX) status in 2008. Prior to that in 2005, USM was named as one of the seven pioneering United Nations University Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development worldwide. In 2007, USM was recognised as a premier research intensive university by the Ministry of Higher Education.
He has written weekly columns for The New Straits Times since 1995, and from 2015, he writes for The Sun.
The new appointment also sees Tan Sri Dzulkifli becomes the first university rector to be appointed under the new government. IIUM community is hopeful that the status and reputation of the university will be further improved under his leadership.***
