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V.G. Kumar Das
V. G. Kumar Das, D.S.D.K.; FASc; FTWAS; FMIC; ChM; Senior Fellow (Academician) Akademi Sains Malaysia, ASM, 2010; Fellow, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), 1996; Professor Emeritus (University of Malaya, UM), 2010. He is also the recipient of the "Triveni Sangamam-II 2016 Award" from the Malayalee Malaysia Hindu Parishad, of which he is a patron, and the "PMA Lifetime Achievement Award for Education" from the Perak Malayalee Association in 2017. b 27 May 1940; eldest of seven children of his parents, the late Mr & Mrs V.G. Panicker, both of whom hailed from Palakkad in Kerala. m 1975, Datin Dr Ambikadevi Nair; one s two d. Education: University of Queensland, Australia (1961-1969) on Colombo Plan Scholarship (BSc Hons -First Class, Dip. Ed., PhD). Career: Lecturer at Department of Chemistry, UM, 1970; first holder of the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry 1980, Senior Professor 1995, Dean Faculty of Science 1990-1998. While in UM, he distinguished himself in research in the field of organotin chemistry, winning the coveted National Science Award in 1989 and the Gold Medal Award in 1992 from the Malaysian Institute of Chemistry of which he is a Fellow. His high national and international stature as an academic earned him appointment/election to the international editorial boards of three major chemistry journals, the international scientific co-ordinating committees of some key conference/symposium series in the Main Group Chemistry field, a member of several national committees, the Foundation Fellowship of Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM,1995), and Fellowship of the The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS, 1996). As the longest-serving Dean (1990- 1998) of the Faculty of Science at UM, he had made outstanding contributions to capacity building, earning the Faculty world-class reputation. Besides introducing several frontier-science and industry- relevant courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, he also pioneered the Faculty in engaging in university-industry research collaboration through the establishment of AMCAL (Advanced Materials Characterization Allied Laboratories) serving simultaneously as its Director. His expertise on tin chemicals enabled him also to serve as a consultant (1992-1996) to Organotin (M) Sdn. Bhd. in their acquired tin chemicals business in East Germany.

Following retirement from UM in 1999, he went on to serve as the Founding Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of two universities in the private sector – AIMST University in Kedah (2001-2007), and the Quest International University in Perak (2007-2013). In recognition of his efforts towards higher education in the State of Kedah, the D.S.D.K. award, which carries the title, "Dato", was bestowed on him by HRH Sultan of Kedah in April 2005.

Professor Emeritus Kumar Das has published widely, with over 200 journal papers, 2 patents, and 4 scientific tomes, among them, "Tin in Applications: meeting the 'green' challenge" which won the coveted Ministry of Education/ Malaysian Scholarly Publishing Council Award in 2014 for the best book published under the Science, Technology, and Health category. A major work entitled "The Tapestry of Science: A multidisciplinary review of fundamental and contemporary topics" was recently published in 2023. His other works include the biography of his late mother, entitled “Gowri”, and two fictional novels, all of which have won him laurels as an author. Although now well into retirement, he continues to lend his expertise in an ad-hoc advisory capacity to various organizations, including ASM, MOSTA, MRDO, and My-Life Centre Sdn. Bhd., and as a Trustee of The Mahathir Science Award Foundation (now renamed as Tropical Science Foundation).