08 April 2008

Education leader to receive honorary degree in Malaysia

Datuk Zamani Mohamad Noor will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield at a degree ceremony in Kuala Lumpur this week. A significant contributor to the development of education in Malaysia, Datuk Zamani Mohamad Noor will receive a Doctor of Letters at the degree ceremony at the Shangri-La Hotel at 7pm on Sunday 13 April 2008.

52 local students, who have completed various degree programmes at the University of Sheffield, will also be presented to the University´s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Keith Burnett at the degree ceremony.

Datuk Zamani Mohamad Noor has played a significant role in education during his long and distinguished career at Majlis Amanah Rakyat, otherwise known as MARA.

MARA focuses its energies in two main areas – the education and training of students in Malaysian and overseas institutions, and the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills at all stages of the education process.

Datuk Zamani Mohamad Noor graduated from the University of Malaya in 1973 with a degree in economics. The next thirty years saw him rise through the ranks of the Education and Entrepreneurship divisions of MARA, where he went on to become the Director-General from 2002 until 2006.

Professor Keith Burnett, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said: "I am delighted to confer this special honour on Datuk Zamani Mohamad Noor in recognition of the enormous contribution he has made to education and scholarship in Malaysia.

"The University of Sheffield is proud of its many links with Malaysia in teaching and research and of its long-standing partnership with MARA in education and training. MARA-sponsored students contribute greatly to the University´s status as a world-class institution and to the richness and diversity of life on the Sheffield campus."