Professor Graham Kendall, Vice Provost for Research & Knowledge Transfer
SELANGOR, SEPTEMBER 23 - The University of Nottingham Malaysia has appointed Professor Graham Kendall as Vice Provost for Research and Knowledge Transfer. Professor Kendall succeeds Professor Sayed Azam-Ali who has moved on to become the first CEO of Crops for the Future Research Centre (CFFRC) – the world’s first major research centre devoted to the study of underutilised crops.
In his new role, Professor Kendall is responsible for the strategic direction of UNMC with regard to research and knowledge transfer. He chairs the UNMC Research Strategy and Knowledge Transfer Committees. He also sits on high-level UK-based boards including the Research Excellence Framework Steering Committee and the Research and Knowledge Transfer Board. He also facilitates links with Nottingham campuses in the UK and China.
Prior to his current appointment, Professor Kendall was the Dunford Professor of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, UK. Professor Kendall’s research interests lie in operational research, meta- and hyper-heuristics, evolutionary computation and artificial intelligence. Professor Kendall also has nearly 20 years experience in the IT industry.
Professor Sayed Azam-Ali assumed the position of the first CEO of CFFRC on 1st August, 2011, after it was launched by the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia in June this year. He will manage and drive the research strategy and direction of the centre through an independent CFFRC Board and under the overall direction of the global Crops for the Future (CFF) organisation which is jointly hosted in Malaysia by Bioversity International and UNMC.
Professor Azam-Ali’s main research interest is assessing the potential of underutilised tropical crops. Prior to his appointment at UNMC, Professor Azam-Ali was Director of the University Tropical Crops Research Unit and Professor of Tropical Agronomy at The University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington Campus in the UK.
“Research is a significant component of our operations and the appointments of Graham and Sayed allow us to focus on research areas which address global issues and widen our research prospects both in Malaysia and globally,” said Professor Ian Pashby, CEO and Provost at UNMC.
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Released by The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. For more information, please contact Josephine Dionisappu at 03-8924 8746 or josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings. It was named ‘Europe’s greenest university’ in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, a league table of the world’s most environmentally-friendly higher education institutions, which ranked Nottingham second in the world overall.
The University is committed to providing a truly international education for its 40,000 students, producing world-leading research and benefiting the communities around its campuses in the UK and Asia.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranked the University 7th in the UK by research power. The University’s vision is to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health.
More news from the University at: http://www.nottingham.edu.my/NewsEvents/News.aspx
Posted on 21st September 2011