PUTRAJAYA, Jan 29 — Prof Datuk Husaini Omar has been appointed as the new director-general of Higher Education Ministry (KPT) effective February 1, 2021.
KPT Minister Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad announced in a statement today that Husaini, 57, who was Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) chief executive officer prior to this, succeeds Prof Datuk Seri Mohamed Mustafa Ishak who retired on January 10.
Husaini holds a Bachelor of Science (Geology) (Hons) from the University of Malaya (UM) in 1988, an Engineering Geology Masters degree from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom in 1994, and a Doctor of Engineering (System Engineering) from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2002.
Before starting his career as UPM lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering in 1996, he had eight years’ industry experience as a geological engineer .
“I am confident with his expertise, experience and outstanding achievements, he (Husaini) will continue to improve performance of higher education in the country, in line with the aspirations of the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2015-2025,” Noraini said.
Husaini’s career path in academic administration began when he was appointed as UPM’s deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Innovation) on February 15, 2017 before he became Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) vice-chancellor from January 1, 2018 until January 6, 2019.
He has also published over 200 papers in the form of journals, proceedings, books, and technical reports from the researches he had conducted.
He has also supervised over 20 post-graduate students and some of his research outcomes have been patented in Malaysia and the United States.
Noraini also expressed her deep appreciation and gratitude to Mohamed Mustafa for his services and contribution during his tenure as Higher Education director-general. — Bernama
