Prof Rujhan is new D-G - Star

By PRIYA KULASAGARAN


THE HIGHER Education Ministry’s deputy director-general Prof Rujhan Mustafa as been appointed the new director-general effective Jan 1 this year.

He takes over from Prof Datuk Dr Radin Umar Radin Sohadi who has been appointed Universiti Putra Malaysia vice-chancellor.

Prof Rujhan, who has been acting director-general since Jan 1, had previously served as the ministry’s academic affairs director and as an international economics professor at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

Prof Rujhan is also on the board of directors for several universities, namely Open University Malaysia, Universiti Tenaga Nasional and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (formerly known as Universiti Darul Iman Malaysia).

He previously served on the board of directors of Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris.

Prof Rujhan was recently appointed by the Malaysian Government as its country representative for the 2010-2013 term, under the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Open Learning Centre based in Jakarta.

He obtained his master’s and PhD degrees in international economics from Ritsumeikan University, Japan, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from Universiti Malaya.

Aside from having his academic and research work recognised in international bodies such as the Association of International Education, Japan, Prof Rujhan has also been involved in many government-to-government meetings held by organisations such as the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, the Asian University Network and the World Bank.

He is currently the country’s focal person on higher education for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference Ranking Universities initiative and an executive committee member for the Islamic World Science Citation Centre.