BIODATA Mr. R. Padmanathan

Mr. R. Padmanathan, or ‘Paddy’ as he is known to his friends at Wawasan Open University, was born in Kampar, Perak in 1939. He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney, Australia in 1962.

Upon his return to Malaysia after completing his economics degree programme, he had a short stint in the commercial sector before joining the Penang State Government in December 1963, serving in the State Secretariat initially and the City Council of George Town from mid 1968 until 1971. In early 1972, he joined Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) as an Assistant Registrar and served in a variety of administrative positions before retiring as Deputy Registrar of USM in 1993.

While at USM, he received an Inter-University Council Administrative Staff Training Award for attachment at the Victoria University of Manchester in 1975 to pursue the Higher Education Administrators Programme (HEAP). He was awarded a Fellowship for attachment at the United Nations Division of Narcotic Drugs in Geneva (1978).

In 1980, he was associated with the National Centre for Drug Research at USM in a project sponsored by the Colombo Plan Bureau to look into an organisational structure to deal with drug abuse in Sri Lanka. In 1981, he also served as a member of the review panel on the role and functions of the UN Division of Narcotic Drugs regional coordination office in Bangkok. Upon retirement from USM, he became actively involved in supporting other tertiary institutions in the state and during his tenure as Principal and Vice President of DISTED College from 1993-2002, he also provided administrative support to the Penang Medical College and its Board of Directors. He was then appointed the Director of Administration at Allianze University College of Medical Sciences and served in this capacity from 2002- 2003.

His association with Wawasan Open University (WOU) started in late 2003 when he initially worked with the Chief Executive of the Wawasan Education Foundation before being appointed to provide administrative support to the Vice Chancellor designate and CEO. He served as the founding Registrar of WOU from August 2005 to September 2006, and subsequently as the Secretary to the WOU Council from 2006-2011.

Mr. Padmanathan has contributed to the community through various social/cultural organisations. He was a Committee Member of the Consumers Association of Penang, Member of the Penang Library Establishment Committee, Advisory Member of the Malaysian Indians Scholarship Fund, Chairman of the Penang City Council Labour Union Scholarship Fund, and Member of the USM Student Association Election Appeals Committee. In recognition of his contribution to society and state, Mr. Padmanathan was bestowed the State Meritorious Medal (Pingat Jasa Kebaktian or PJK) in July 1983 and the Distinguished Conduct Medal (Pingat Kelakuan Terpuji or PKT) in July 1991, both from Penang.