Three prominent academicians have been named as members of the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman's (UTAR) International Advisory Council.

MCA President Dato Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said Prof Wang Gungwu would head the prestigious panel. Wang is Director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore.

Other members of the Council include 69-year-old Prof Dr Charles K. Kao, who is also known as the Father of Fibre Optics, and Prof Tu Weiming, 62, who is a professor of Chinese History and Philosophy and Confucian Studies at Harvard University.

Prof Dr Charles K. Kao
The Shanghai-born Dr Kao's theoretical and practical research at the International Telephone and Telegraph Corp's Standard Telecommunications Laboratory has produced 29 patented discoveries, including methods for manufacturing optically pure glass fibres. Dr Kao, who was named the Asian of the Century by Time magazine in 1999, was also a Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong between 1987 and 1996.

Prof Tu Weiming
Tu, who was born in Kunming, China, is a professor of Chinese History and Philosophy and Confucian Studies at Harvard University.