Professor Emeritus Dato’ K.J. Ratnam is a political scientist who received his higher education at the University of Malaya (B.A. 1956), the University of British Columbia (M.A. 1958) and the London School of Economics (Ph.D. 1960). He was Professor of Political Science and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Singapore before taking up the position of Foundation Dean of the School of Comparative Social Sciences at Universiti Sains Malaysia (then University of Penang) in 1970. He subsequently held the posts of Director of the Centre for Policy Research, Dean of Graduate Studies and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development. He was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus in 1993. Professor Emeritus Dato’ K.J. Ratnam has been an active researcher and has published extensively on topics ranging from Malaysian politics and race relations to social science development, political sociology, education, R&D planning and science and technology policy. In January 2003, he was appointed to the University’s newly-created Tuanku Chancellor Chair of Science and Technology Policy and Development. Professor Emeritus Ratnam is now retired and lives in Kuala Lumpur.