KUALA LUMPUR: Distinguished Chair Prof Dr Ooi Keng Boon reached a new milestone when he was elected as a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences.

One of only five Malaysians elected this year, Prof Ooi’s tenure is effective from 1 Jan 2026. He has the distinction of being the only elected academic from a private university.

“I’m greatly honoured to be elected as a TWAS Fellow and I would like to thank UCSI, my colleagues and my students for the support I’ve received over the years,” said Prof Ooi who serves as UCSI's Centre for Business Informatics and Industrial Management director.

“This milestone shows that my work is recognised by the international community. I’m greatly encouraged and I’ll do my best to empower future generations of thought leaders.”

TWAS is a programme unit of Unesco to advance science in the Global South. It was established in 1983 by a distinguished group of scientists from developing nations and led by Pakistani physicist and Nobel laureate Abdus Salam.

Today, TWAS consists of over 1,400 elected Fellows from over 100 nations. It counts 13 Nobel laureates among its ranks.

TWAS elected 63 new Fellows recently. Among them are 40 men and 23 women, with 57 hailing from the Global South.

Six new Fellows hail from science and technology-lagging countries - two from Bangladesh, and one each from Bolivia, Cameroon, Congo and Nepal.

The remaining 57 Fellows are from Argentina (1); Australia (1); Botswana (1); Brazil (8); Canada (2); China (10); Taiwan, China (2); Cuba (2); Ecuador (1); Egypt (2); India (9); Iran (2); Malaysia (5); Nigeria (1); Pakistan (1); Saudi Arabia (1); Singapore (1); South Africa (3); Thailand (1); the US (2); and Venezuela (1).