Dr Nafis Alam, Associate Professor at Nottingham University Business School, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) was conferred the Upcoming Personality in Islamic Finance (Academic) 2016 award at the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) held in Jakarta recently. The GIFA Awards are held annually as market-led awards in Islamic banking and finance to recognise the contributions of individuals and institutions in the industry.
“I am honoured to receive the Upcoming Personality in Islamic Finance (Academic) 2016 award. It is good to see that my initiatives taken at a global level to develop Islamic finance, teaching and research are bearing fruit and being recognised by the Global Islamic Finance Award committee,” said Dr Nafis Alam, who is also the Director of the Centre for Islamic Business and Finance Research (CIBFR) at UNMC.
“My heartfelt appreciation goes to my colleagues at Nottingham University Business School who have always supported my research activities with the Centre for Islamic Business and Finance Research,” he said.
Dr Nafis Alam has led the development of Islamic finance as a new business discipline at UNMC where the MSc Investment and Islamic Finance programme was launched in 2013.
Dr Alam received the Upcoming Personality in Islamic Finance (Academic) 2016 award at a ceremony which also witnessed Indonesian President, Joko Widodo receiving the Islamic Finance Leadership award for 2016. At last year’s GIFA Awards, Dr Alam represented UNMC to receive the Best Islamic Finance Training Provider 2015 award at the awards ceremony held in Bahrain.
“We are very proud of the quality of our academics and the quality of the research that they do. It is not surprising that they are being recognised for being the best in their areas of expertise,” said Professor Graham Kendall, CEO and Provost of UNMC.
“Nafis has developed both the teaching and research of Islamic Finance at UNMC, as well winning global awards for being best training provider last year. This year he is being honoured by receiving the upcoming personality award. It is a testament to his success in this field,” Professor Kendall said.
Dr Nafis has also won multiple awards for his contribution towards the teaching, and learning and research in Islamic finance. Most recently, he won an award in the International category at The University of Nottingham’s Knowledge Exchange and Impact Awards 2016. Last year, he was one of several successful academics who was accepted into the Nottingham Research Leaders Programme for 2016, a programme which supports the development and advancement of key academics in their strategic research leadership roles.
In recognition of his expertise in Islamic finance and Islamic capital markets, Dr Alam was appointed to the accreditation panel of the Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA) in September 2015. He was also invited as a panel member for a forum on Islamic Finance Education and Skills at the World Islamic Economic Forum 2015.
In 2014, he was conferred with the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education by The World Education Congress (WEC) and was features as a Professor of the Month by The Financial Times UK.
(Article image caption: Dr Alam (right) with Muliaman D. Hadad, Chairman, Financial Services Authority of Indonesia)
(Thumbnail article image: Dr Alam (right) Dr Humayon Dar, Chairman of Edbiz Consulting and Chairman of GIFA committee)
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More information is available from Dr Nafis Alam on nafis.alam@nottingham.edu.my, Chan Wen Li, Director of Information and Communications of Nottingham University Business School at wenli.chan@nottingham.edu.my; Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus on josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016).
It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and the winner of ‘Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2015. More than 97% of research at The University of Nottingham is recognised internationally and it is 8th in the UK by research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 5th October 2016