Majlis Konvokesyen ke-22 USIM | 2024

Penerima Gelaran Profesor Emeritus 49 M usa Ahmad, also known by his village name Andong Kampil, was born in Kampung Jawa, Panchor, Muar, Johor. He is the sixth of twelve siblings born to rubber tapper parents, Sipah bte Masalam and Ahmad bin Abdullah. Despite having many siblings, his parents’ income was always sufficient, and there was never a day when he and his siblings went without rice. He is grateful for this. However, three of his sisters were unable to continue their education to secondary school because they had to take care of their younger siblings at that time. As a child, he was accustomed to village work such as rubber tapping, clearing gardens, and splitting wood. It was destined for him to leave the village at a young age to further his education in Form 1 at a fully residential school, Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor (SMSJ) in Kluang. This was a culture shock for him as he had never been far from his parents, and it was his first time sleeping on his own bed and mattress. However, he had to temporarily forget about his mother’s cooking, which he loved - dishes like masak lemak cili api with cassava leaves, sayur asam with taro stem, and sambal tumis tempe . His sweetest memory at SMSJ was being crowned the best student for the Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP) examination in the whole of Johor in 1977. He had to abandon his dreamof becoming a medical doctorwhen he realized he could not stand the sight of blood, a condition known as hemophobia. This became evident when his father asked him to slaughter a chicken during a nasi ambeng feast in the village. Although he disliked chemistry, he ultimately chose to pursue a degree in Chemistry at the Faculty of Physics and Applied Sciences at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 1981 after being awarded a Petronas scholarship in this field. With the blessings of his parents, he graduated with the First Class Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Chemistry, a subject that he initially did not like. The economic downturn in the country in 1985 forced him to give up his aspiration to work with Petronas and instead redirected his career towards education, as his father had long wished. After completing his Master’s and PhD in England (Manchester), he began his academic career at UKM, Bangi in 1994. In 2010, he moved to Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) to serve as the Deputy Vice- Chancellor (Academic and International) and was later appointed as the Vice-Chancellor in 2014. After stepping down as Vice-Chancellor in 2019, he was given several responsibilities at USIM, including Chair of the Professor Council, Chair of the Staff Welfare Committee, and Chief Editor of The Malaysian Journal of Science, Health & Technology (MJoSHT). He officially retired in 2022 but continues to hold the position of Professor VK7 (contract) to this day. Outside the university, he has held several key positions, such as Chair of the UKM Chemistry Alumni Association, President of the Malaysian Sensors Association, and Appointed Member of the National Council for Islamic Affairs (MKI). In research and publication, he has published over 200 journal articles from various research projects undertaken over the past three decades, with a total funding estimate of RM7.5 million from various agencies. He has won more than 25 medals at various national and international research and innovation exhibitions, including from the United States, Switzerland, and Belgium. He was appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), Yogyakarta (2018), and Bukhara State University, Uzbekistan (2019). In his area of expertise (optical chemical sensors), he has received over 60 invitations to give guest lectures, plenary talks, and keynote speeches from countries including Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Palestine, Turkey, and Japan. He has also received international recognition in the form of fellowships, scholarships, and visiting grants from institutions such as The Royal Society of Chemistry London (England), ICS-UNIDO Visiting Grant (Italy), JSPS-VCC (Japan), Association of Commonwealth Universities Scholarship (England), and the Japanese Government Training Scheme (Japan). In his youth, he was actively involved as a consultant in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for several companies such as Petronas, Shell, Berjaya Group, Kuantan Port Authority, Pripadu, Amsteel, and Prolintas. His recent interest in creative writing led to the publication of his autobiography titled Pendakian Rintis Tutor – Naib Canselor: Cerita Aku , published by USIM Press in January 2024. Additionally, several of his creative works have been published in anthologies such as Gema Puisi Maal Hijrah (2016), Himpunan Anekdot Aksara Inspirasi 2 (2020), Antologi Puisi Tarian Tinta (2020), Anekdot Ramadhan (2021), Antologi Puisi Cinta Ramadhan (2021), Anekdot Syawal (2021), and Antologi Puisi Melarik Masa (2023). His passion for nature through mountain climbing has led him to conquer the peaks of Gunung Tahan, Gunung Kinabalu, Gunung Rinjani (Indonesia), and Gunung Fuji (Japan). All these experiences have shaped him into a comprehensive scholar who is open-minded, dynamic, and always forward-looking in his career.