Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rahman Arshad: Honorary Doctor of Letters

The late Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rahman Arshad was an honorary graduate of Heriot-Watt University (DLitt, 1992) and was the Chairman of Heriot-Watt University Malaysia until 2016.

He was an educationalist and a diplomat with 30 years of service in both government and international organisations, including United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO INNOTECH), Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), and Commonwealth Secretariat and Regional Institute of Higher Education Development (RIHED).

He was also the Founding Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), the oldest public engineering and technological university in Malaysia.

Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rahman Arshad passed away on 16th August 2020.

Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, Provost and CEO of Heriot-Watt University Malaysia expressed his sadness and condolences to the family members of Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Arshad. He said “Tan Sri has always been a fervent supporter of Heriot-Watt University. The pioneering team of the Malaysia campus remember him as a very kind person, humble and he would always be present at university events, from the time we launched our temporary campus, to the new campus and his memories lingers on the walls of our university as well as in our hearts. We will always be grateful to Tan Sri for his selfless contributions to the university.”