Azirah Hashim is Professor Emeritus in the English Language Department, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya. She has held several leadership positions including Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Institute (2015-2020), Director of the Centre for ASEAN Regionalism (2015-2018), Dean of the Humanities Research Cluster (2010-2015), Chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee (2013-2015) and Dean and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya (2003-2009, 1996-2002). Currently, she is a member of the steering group for the ASEAN Higher Education Community of Practice, RIHED-SHARE and a member of the Standing Working Group of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Education representing the Asia-Europe Institute. Her research interests include English in multilingual contexts, internationalisation of higher education in ASEAN and Academic and Professional Discourse. Publications include English in Southeast Asia and ASEAN: Transformation of Language Habitats, Routledge co-authored with Gerhard Leitner (2021),  Communicating with Asia: the Future of English as a Global Language , Cambridge University Press edited with Gerhard Leitner and Hans-Georg Wolf (2016, 2019) and articles in journals such as English Today, Discourse Studies and Multilingua. She was President of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA - https://aila.info/) from 2021 to 2024 and is Founding President of the Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics. In addition, she is an honorary life member and in the executive committee of the Asia Pacific Languages for Specific Purposes and Professional Communication Association and is a former executive committee member of the International Association of Forensic Linguists. She was on the MyExpert committee at the Ministry of Higher Education involved in capacity building in higher education projects in Cambodia and Laos and was project leader of an Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education 'Building research capacity in Malaysia and Laos' (2017-2021).  She also headed the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence: ASEAN and the EU in Dialogue (2017-2021).  In 2009, she was awarded the Georg Forster Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany for a research stay at Free University Berlin and is a Fellow of the Foundation. In 2020, she was a recipient of the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute Research Fellowship, Trinity College Dublin and in 2021, recipient of the Humboldt Fellowship for a renewed stay at FRIAS, University of Freiburg, Germany. She was also FRIAS Senior Fellow and Marie Curie Fellow of the European Union at University of Freiburg, Germany in 2022. She is Humboldt Ambassador Scientist of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/) from 2021 to 2027 and ASEAN Higher Education Expert in the EU SHARE programme on higher education in the ASEAN region from 2021 to 2022. Azirah is on the editorial and advisory board of English Today, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, World Englishes, Journal of Sociolinguistic Studies, GEMA Journal of Language Studies, Journal of Intercultural Communication, Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics,  Asian Journal of English Language Studies and AEI Insights: an international journal on Asia-Europe relations. Also, she is a reviewer for several journals, external examiner and assessor for several universities and on the editorial board of the Asia TEFL book series. On 29 April 2023, Azirah was awarded Honorary Membership of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines for distinguished contribution to linguistics and language research. She was also elected Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia in April 2023.

20 YEARS of teaching and research experience 40 ++ Journal Publication, Media appearances Principal investigator for 20++ Grants, including International Grant under the International Labor Organization (Internal Grant: RM 859,901.83, External Grant: RM 4,026,955.01) 25 ++ Patents and Copyrights Expert consultant, trainer, and partner for the Government, Private sectors, and International (ie: Coordinator for My STEM Ambassador Program under MOHE, Interviewer for Government Scholarship, Program accreditator, Expert consultant for Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition, Honeywell Design Competition, British International Education Association, International Labor Organization) Experience in Outcome-Based Education and MQF documentation Evaluator for the Engineering Programme under the Engineering Accreditation Council, Malaysia  Treasurer, National STEM Association Coordinator, Mini Theater STEM Program, National STEM Association NSC Steering Committee, Academy of Science Malaysia  Coordinator for B40 Educational Programs, National STEM Association  HRDF Certified Trainer

Dr. Muhamad Alihanafiah bin Norasid is a senior lecturer at the Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya. He was born on 22 May 1987 at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and is the eldest of twelve siblings. Originally from Johor, he has resided in Dusun Tua, Hulu Langat, Selangor, for over 30 years. He is married and blessed with five children—two boys and three girls. Educational Background Dr. Alihanafiah began his early education at Sekolah Agama Menengah Rawang, Selangor in 2000, before continuing his secondary studies at Sekolah Menengah Agama Kerajaan Johor in Kluang from 2001 to 2004. In 2005, he pursued religious studies at Ma’ahad Johor in Johor Bahru and successfully obtained the Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM). He continued his academic journey at the University of Malaya, earning a Bachelor of Usuluddin (Al-Quran and Al-Hadith) from 2006 to 2009. He then pursued a PhD in the field of Thematic Quranic Interpretation and Human Capital Development at the same university from 2010 to 2016. He also attended a one-month Arabic language enhancement course at Cairo University, Egypt in 2008, and a three-month research methodology course at The World Islamic Sciences and Education University in Amman, Jordan in 2012. Academic Career Dr. Alihanafiah has been serving as a lecturer at the Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya since 2017, and currently holds the position of Senior Lecturer. With over eight years of academic experience, he has demonstrated strong commitment to teaching and research, particularly in the field of Quran and Hadith studies. Leadership and Involvement Since his student days, Dr. Alihanafiah has actively engaged in various leadership and co-curricular activities. He served as Chairman of the Student Committee, Department of Quran and Hadith (2005–2006), and was a committee member of the Islamic Student Association of the University of Malaya (2004–2005). He also held the position of Advisory Committee Member of the Training and Cadre Unit at YADIM (2020–2021), and served as Chairman of the Youth Bureau (Lajnah Syubban) of the Malaysian Muslim Scholar Association (PUM) from 2017 to 2024. As of 2025, he holds the position of Chairman of the Madrasah Ulama’ Secretariat, also under PUM. Academic Publications and Scholarly Network Dr. Alihanafiah is an active academic in the field of scholarly publishing. He has authored more than 60 academic articles, which have been published in various academic journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Additionally, he has presented over 15 research papers at international conferences and seminars. His involvement in research includes delivering presentations as a guest speaker in countries such as Japan, Iran, and Indonesia. He has also participated in research competency courses in Turkey, Thailand, Egypt, Brunei, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Iran, and other countries. He is recognized as a subject matter expert in the areas of Quranic thought, thematic (Mawdu‘i) interpretation, human capital development, and environmental sustainability from the perspective of the Quran. Academic and Co-Curricular Achievements Dr. Alihanafiah has received various awards and recognitions throughout his academic journey. These include the Cikgu Haji Osman Hassan Book Prize for Best Student at the Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya (2009), the Active Student Award of Residential College 8 (2007), and the Academic Excellence Award of the same college (2007). He also received the University Book Prize for achieving a perfect CGPA (4.00) in three out of six semesters. In the field of debating, he represented the University of Malaya in the Royal Intervarsity Debate Championship (Arabic category) and emerged as First Runner-up in 2007. He also reached the quarterfinals of the ASEAN Debate Championship (Arabic category) in the same year. Additionally, he was the First Runner-up in the Quran Memorization Competition and Islamic Calligraphy Competition (khat) at the university level in 2007 and 2008 respectively.