Kuala lumpur: Chief Adviser to the Government of Bangladesh Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus has been conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Social Business by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) at a special convocation ceremony today. Yunus, who is on a three-day official visit to Malaysia, received the doctorate from UKM Chancellor, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir at Auditorium Hospital Tunku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani, UKM Specialist Children's Hospital.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the ceremony also witnessed the presence of Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Aishah Rohani Tengku Besar Mahmud, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, and the Prime Minister's wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. In his brief royal decree, Tuanku Muhriz expressed his pleasure in presenting the honorary doctorate to Yunus, acknowledging his achievements in reducing poverty and transforming lives in Bangladesh.
Delivering his public lecture after receiving the doctorate, Yunus emphasized that the award symbolizes the recognition of the resilience and determination of the people of Bangladesh, especially the young and women entrepreneurs. He highlighted the significance of providing small financial support and basic training to disadvantaged individuals, enabling them to bring lasting change to their communities. Yunus reiterated his belief that poverty stems not from a lack of talent or dreams, but from systemic barriers that deny people fair opportunities.
The social entrepreneur, economist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate is renowned for pioneering microcredit and microfinance, which offer small loans without collateral to impoverished individuals, allowing them to start businesses and escape poverty. UKM Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Sufian Jusoh praised Yunus for his dedication to advancing social progress and his transformative contributions to Bangladesh, describing him as a model of transformative leadership and good governance.
Sufian recounted Yunus's journey, noting that in 1976, he initiated an experimental microloan project in Jobra village, lending US$27 to 42 women, which eventually led to the founding of the Grameen Bank in 1983. The bank became a global model for poverty alleviation through collateral-free microcredit, serving over 100 million people worldwide and inspiring similar programs in more than 100 countries.
Born on June 28, 1940, in Chittagong, Yunus completed his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Economics at the University of Dhaka and earned his PhD in Economics from Vanderbilt University as a Fulbright Scholar. He taught economics at Middle Tennessee State University before returning to Bangladesh in 1972 to head the Economics Department at the University of Chittagong. Yunus has maintained close ties with UKM for over a decade, particularly through the establishment of the Yunus Centre for Social Business UKM in 2011.