CEO Insights Magazine

One of the leading private universities and the only infrastructure university in Malaysia, Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur has been providing quality education and professional services in various fields for the last 20 years. A five-star rated university, IUKL has been the first choice for many corporate giants globally and has been offering various globally accredited programs to its students. Behind the rapid growth and success of the university, lies the diligent effort and pioneering leadership of Dato Professor Dr. Noor Inayah Yaakub, President & Vice-Chancellor of IUKL. A qualified advocate and multifaceted leader, Dr. Noor Inayah Yaakub has always been focused on building innovative curriculum and enhancing the leadership and entrepreneurial skillsets of her students.

In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights ASIA, Dr. Noor Inayah Yaakub shares the presence of IUKL across the higher education sector in Malaysia, the future roadmap for the university, and much more.

Could you enlighten us about Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur's impact and presence across the higher education sector in Malaysia?

Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur is the only infrastructure university in Malaysia providing quality education and excellent professional services to both Malaysian and international students in various areas, such as Engineering, Business, Communication, Language Studies, Architecture, Biotechnology, Information Technology, and many more. We have already been awarded five stars by the Talent Development Bank for being the first choice of employers in their search for graduates. Our graduates are the first choice of many big conglomerates globally, such as Microsoft, Shell, PETRONAS, and many more.

Being an infrastructure university, our international students make up 50 percent of the overall student strength. Around 60 of our homegrown academic programs are not only accredited by the local accreditation bodies but also by top professional bodies globally. This reflects our students' ability to not just work in Malaysia but to work globally and makes us the preferred choice of international students all over the world. The culture that we inculcate at our university is beyond races and religions and nurtures social cohesion and harmony.

All of our faculties are well-qualified professionals. Even during the pandemic, we offered a hybrid type of delivery and assessment method of the curriculum. Our students are well-equipped with serving the public as well as the community once they have completed their studies. We recently ranked in the top five universities in applied education and also rank 12th in the list of top universities all over Asia.

Shed some light on the future roadmap you have envisioned for yourself.

In terms of my future roadmap, I have set up six goals that are related to each other for my university. The first goal is to produce quality students with innovative and entrepreneurship skillsets through innovative curriculums and various learning programs as I don't think that a good student without entrepreneurial skills is relevant. The second goal is to ensure that all students understand that they are relevant, are referred to, and are respected. People should be aware of your existence, expertise in any particular area, and your ability to serve society.

I am also very particular about sustainable governance, which not only caters to the financial or digital sector but also the IT infrastructure. I am also very particular about the factor that students and staff must ensure that the research work they are undertaking is really meaningful. I always encourage my staff to go for meaningful research that is meant to serve society and can bring changes to society and lifestyle. These are some of the long-term goals for the university.

Now coming to the short-term goals, I want to ensure that the university is practicing good governance that is transparent and academic oriented.

Starting from budgeting and the cost of sales to your expectations from your colleagues to achieve academic outcomes, everything must be transparent. Coming to myself, I want to do beyond the pandemic era where students up to a certain extent are more interested in earning a living and are no longer interested to come to the university and attend offline classes. We must be innovative to provide education where students can learn as well as earn something at the same time.

How would you describe your leadership style and what has been your success mantra helping your operations so far?

I believe that to become a good leader, you need to produce leaders. I have always inculcated leadership values in all my subordinates. I also like to be more creative and innovative so that we can easily adapt to the current situation and prepare our students to have a better future where they not only possess good academic merits but also are trained to apply their knowledge to solve problems. So I always link knowledge and wisdom in all my students and colleagues as for me, academic qualifications are not sufficient, and we must be able to apply our knowledge to make everlasting and sustainable decisions.

I have always been clear about what I believe and walk the talk. I always take decisions based on current scenarios as for me, we cannot predict what is going to happen tomorrow. I believe that nothing is impossible and we must go back to our roots and try again in case of a hiccup.

Dato Professor Dr. Noor Inayah Yaakub is the President and Vice-Chancellor of Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur (IUKL). A qualified Advocate & Solicitor High Court of Malaya and Syarie lawyer State of Negeri Sembilan, Dato Prof obtained her Bachelor's in Law from International Islamic University in 1993 and later obtained he second degree in Shariah law in 1994. She received her Master's in Comparative Civil & Banking Law from the University of Bristol in 1997 and her Ph.D. in Comparative Civil & Islamic Banking Law of Guarantee from the Law Faculty at the University of Manchester, England in 2005. She also has more than 20 years of experience in teaching Islamic Law, Syariah and Conventional Banking Law, Takaful and Insurance Law, Equity & Trust Law, and Business Law and Ethics.

Dato Professor Dr. Noor Inayah Yaakub, President & Vice-Chancellor, Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur

Hobbies: Watching Sports & Movies, Playing Badminton and Bowling

Awards & Recognition:

1. Ranked Number 22 in the Top 300 Most Influential Women for Islamic Finance by UK Cambridge Financial Association in 2019 and 2020

2. Awarded the prestigious TokohMaalHijrah   Federal Territory for a distinguished   scholar category in 2019

3. Best Business Law Professor by the Golden Globe Tigers Award Malaysia 2019

4. Fellowship Award 2022 by Institute of Marketing, Malaysia