Doctor of Science
A major global figure in higher education and academia.
Prior to his current role as Rector of the International Islamic University Malaysia, Dzul Razak was Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM, 2000 – 2011). From 2005, he also held the role of Convenor of the Regional Centre for Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development based at USM, one of seven pioneering centres worldwide.
He is a past president of the International Association of Universities (IAU, 2012 – 2016), a UNESCO-affiliated organisation based in Paris. Since 1995, he has written weekly op-ed columns for Malaysia’s dailies – in particular, The New Straits Times.
Dzul was conferred Professor Emeritus by USM in 2018 and was an Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham from 2014 until 2020. He was an invited speaker at the 2015 Nobel Dialogue in Sweden.
He is a member of the UN Academic Network for Development Dialogue (ANDD), the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), the National Digital Economy & Fourth Industrial Revolution Council, the Advisory Board of the Right Livelihood College Steering Committee based at the University of Bonn, and the Advisory Board of the Institute of Sustainable Development and Learning at Leuphana University.
He is a Senior Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (FASc), the World Academy of Art and Science (FWAAS) and the World Academy of Islamic Management (FWAIM). In 2020, he was appointed to the Qatar Foundation Higher Education Strategy Advisory Panel and, in 2021, invited to serve as an expert for the Futures of Higher Education Project at UNESCO’s Institute for Higher Education (IESALC).
Among the many awards Dzul has received is the prestigious Gilbert Medal by Universitas 21, in recognition of his long-term commitment to a sustainable approach to international higher education, and the Tokoh Akademik Negara - National Academic Laureate (2017).
The Government of Japan, recognising his contribution to academic collaboration and exchanges between Malaysia and Japan, conferred him The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (2019).
As well as being an honorary graduate of Portsmouth, Dzul has received several honorary doctorates from universities including University of Nottingham, Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania and Istanbul Commerce University. While at the home front from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia’s (USIM), he was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Dakwah and Islamic Management (2019) for his efforts to widen the dimensions of dakwah through research and leadership at the university, and most recently University of Cybejaya, Honorary Doctorate of Leadership in Education.