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Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) is pleased to announce the appointments of renowned academics – Professor David Ngo, Director of Research and Enterprise (Malaysia) and Professor, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences; and Professor Deborah Hall, Professor and Head of Psychology, School of Social Sciences.
These senior academics will be working to develop and lead innovative transnational teaching towards delivering a global, research-led educational experience for the University’s students and the communities it serves, together with Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, Provost and Chief Executive Officer of HWUM.
On these appointments, Professor Al-Atabi says:
We are delighted to be welcoming Professor Ngo and Professor Hall to our team of innovative and purpose-driven educators. The appointment of such established academic leaders will strategically position us to deliver our plans and prepare us to lead on the post COVID recovery. Their impressive portfolios of experience and knowledge will provide valuable growth and development opportunities for our students, and facilitate the implementation of impactful solutions for the communities we serve.
With a long-standing background in both public and private higher education, Professor David Chek Ling Ngo has served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research at Wawasan Open University and Sunway University; and Dean of IT at University of Malaya and the Multimedia University. Professor Ngo was awarded a Baccalaureus in Arte Ingeniaria (BAI), a Latin name meaning Bachelor in the Art of Engineering and PhD in Computer Science, both from Trinity College Dublin, where he also proceeded to the academic rank of Master of Arts (MA). He is also a fellow at the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) and the British Computer Society (BCS), as well as being a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Professor Ngo who is a highly experienced researcher and serves on the editorial boards of ISI-indexed journals, and on the advisory boards of university faculties, and national funds and awards, says: “I am more than excited to join a global team of visionary leaders and a premier faculty to achieve a sustainable recovery through excellence. I am very attracted to Heriot-Watt’s values-led strategy and purpose-led culture that seek to embed principles and meaning into everything we do. I am ready and eager to work together as one team to achieve our values and goals.
Professor Hall, in the meantime, graduated from Brunel University United Kingdom with a first-class honours degree in Psychology and completed her PhD in the same field from Birmingham University.
In the early days of her career, she established a world leading research programme in auditory fMRI, funded by the Medical Research Council. Professor Hall went on to clock six (6) years at the University of Nottingham where she led a prestigious translational research centre funded by the United Kingdom government and established the University’s cognitive neuroscience teaching and research in 2009.
Professor Hall also took on the role of Vice Provost (Research and Knowledge Exchange) at the University’s Malaysia campus for 2 and a half years.
Professor Hall, who has published more than 150 journal articles, says: “In my new capacity as Heriot-Watt University Malaysia’s Professor in Positive Psychology, I hope to draw on my broad academic experience to inspire the Psychology team and to lead the formation of an exciting new institute that will pioneer research on Positive Education in Malaysia and across the University’s footprints in Dubai and the UK.”
Both Professor Ngo and Professor Hall are expected to assume their new positions at Heriot-Watt University Malaysia within the first quarter of this year.