Universiti Malaya’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Mohd. Hamdi Abd. Shukor has been elected to the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Steering Committee for Asia – Southeast Asia seat for a two-year term from 2022 – 2024.
Members of the Steering Committee are elected based on nomination and comprise of presidents of member universities representing various regions of Asia-Pacific. APRU Chair heads the Steering Committee.
Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Mohd. Hamdi Abd. Shukor said that it is a great honour for Universiti Malaya to be entrusted with this mandate and responsibility as this signifies another milestone for Universiti Malaya's many achievements throughout the years.
“The Steering Committee is responsible for driving the activities of the association as well as giving directions to its impact and advocacy work across the region.
“Its strategic priorities focus on providing a neutral platform for high-level policy dialogue, taking action on climate change, and supporting diversity, inclusion, and minorities. APRU’s primary activities support these strategic priorities, focusing on critical areas such as disaster risk reduction, women in leadership, indigenous knowledge, virtual student exchange, e-sports, population aging, global health, sustainable cities, artificial intelligence, waste management, and more,” he said.
Professor Hamdi added that Universiti Malaya has been a member of APRU since 2005 and has actively participated in its activities. It is the only approved member from Malaysia. Among the world-renowned universities who are members of APRU are Peking University and Tsinghua University (China), National University of Singapore, University of California, Berkeley (US), Seoul National University (Korea), the University of Hong Kong, the Australian National University (Australia) and University of British Colombia (Canada).
The result was announced during the APRU Presidents’ Meeting in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore from 6 – 9 July 2022 which was attended by the Vice-Chancellor and Professor Dr. Siti Nursheena Mohd Zain, the Director of International Relations Office.
The seats for the Steering Committee are divided by regions which include USA & Canada, Asia-China, Asia-Japan, Asia-Korea, Asia-Southeast Asia, Australia & New Zealand, Asia-at-large (include any members from Asia), Latin America, Americas-at-large (include North and South America) and Member-at-large (include all regions).
As a network of leading universities linking the Americas, Asia and Australasia, APRU brings together thought leaders, researchers, and policy-makers to exchange ideas and collaborate on practical solutions to the challenges of the 21stcentury.
APRU is an international, non-profit and self-governing association legally registered in Hong Kong. Its membership comprises leading universities from 19 economies of the Pacific Rim area known worldwide for their academic and research excellence. Membership to this association is through invitation and to date, there are 60 member universities.
APRU was established in 1997 by the presidents of four universities in the US, namely California Institute of Technology (Thomas Everhart), University of California, Berkeley (Chang-Lin Tien), University of California, Los Angeles (Charles Young) and University of Southern California (Steven B. Sample).