Biography
Professor Dato' Dr. Sulaiman Md. Yassin received his secondary education at the renowned Royal Military College and graduated with an honours degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Malaya in 1972 and subsequently with a Masters degree in Communication Arts from Cornell University in 1974 and a doctorate in Extension Education and Communication from the same University in 1980.
He began his professional career as a Lecturer for College of Agriculture, Malaya in 1972, rising to Associate Professor in 1981 and as Professor in 1987. He was also awarded a Fulbright Scholar fellowship to the United States in 1986/87.
In terms of scholarship, he has written and edited several books (10) and modules (8), as well as continued presenting conference papers nationally and internationally until today. His most recent publications are a book on "Communication for Educational Practitioners" in 2002, research papers presented in the KUSTEM Third Annual Seminar on Sustainability and Management in May 2006, and a conference paper to be presented at the 2nd International Conference in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Annual Conference 2007 in Granada, Spain.
He has on a continued basis been invited to chair sessions or serve as a resource person in several professional and academic meetings, locally and overseas.
His expertise has been well recognized at the international level, whence he had on various occasions over the past 30 years served as a Consultant for the ASEAN, FAO, IAEA. ILO, UNFPA, World Bank and the World Council of Mosques for project formulation and programme review missions in training, agricultural development and technology transfer.
In research, Dato' Sulaiman had been involved with three IRPA projects; being a programme Leader in the 1980's for Family Development project, a Research Centre Leader in a joint project on Solid Waste Management and Policy Strategic Study in 2000 - 2002 and a Research Centre Leader for a joint Priority Research study on Quality of Life and Wellness in 2002 - 2005. Other than that, he had led several other projects funded by Hitachi Foundation of Japan, FAO of The United Nations, IDRC of Canada and CIRDAP of Bangladesh. Before his recent post as Rector, he was the contact person for the Island and Peripheral Communities Research Group in KUSTEM.
In teaching, Dato' Sulaiman has repeatedly been assessed as an excellent teacher and supervisor. He has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels since 1972 in UPM, UM, UMS and KUSTEM. His record in graduate supervision is enviable, having supervised 5 MS and 4 PhD graduates in UPM and as of 2006, 6 PhDs from KUSTEM within the last six years.
Dato' Sulaiman's contribution to the university system has been quite far-reaching. Beginning as the Director for the Centre for Extension and Continuing Education in UPM, he was also the Project Manager for the Centre's building. He has been the Dean for Graduate Studies, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs and once seconded as DVC for Development to UMS. He had served as the founding Dean for the Faculty of Science and Professional Arts in UPM Terengganu. As Deputy Rector for Academic Affairs in KUSTEM, he had been instrumental in establishing 20 academic programmes for KUSTEM, instituting a Teaching Evaluation and Student Assessment System and a successful Educational and Multimedia training workshop for all lecturers. On record, he has thrice been awarded the Excellence Service Certificate by UPM and twice by KUSTEM. He was the Rector of KUSTEM before appointed as the first Vice Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. As Vice Chancellor, he is the chief administrative and academic officer of the University.
At the national level, he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan Selangor (Poverty Eradication Foundation), as well as President of one of the Foundation's colleges. He has also served as a board member for the National Population and Family Development Board for 19 years, where, among others be has developed and institutionalized the compulsory training module package on Population Quality for the Board's outreach staff' and those of link agencies.
On the socio-political front, he has served on a select research committee of the UMNO Supreme Council, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister. Currently, he serves as an Expert Panel member of Yayasan Kajian dan Strategi Melayu – YKSM (Malay Strategic Study Foundation}. Since 2004, be has been a committee member of the Terengganu UMNO Education Bureau, State Solidarity Committee and the State Drug Addiction Prevention Committee. Currently, be is Chairman of Human Capital Working Group for Malay Agenda of the UMNO Supreme Council (Agenda 12, Majlis Tertinggi UMNO. He was recently appointed as Deputy President of the Association of Malaysian Universities (AMU). Currently, he is a member of a consortium within the Knowledge Utilization and Learning Technologies (KULT), a consortium of higher learning and training institutions with links to sixteen countries worldwide