KUALA LUMPUR: UCSI Univeristy council member Dato’ Mohd Karim Abdullah Omar passed away on Saturday (22 June) night. He was 78 years old.

Apart from his role as council member, Mohd Karim was also the chairman of the UCSI University Trust - the varsity’s scholarship and endowment arm.

Under his watch, the Trust also played an instrumental role in student empowerment through its Youth Beyond Boundaries programme.

UCSI Group executive chairman and founder Dato’ Peter Ng said that Mohd Karim’s passing was a big loss to the University community.

“Mohd Karim played a big role in UCSI’s growth story and he has been with us for almost three decades,” he said when contacted. 

“Our friendship goes a long way back and he was ever supportive of the University’s many initiatives. Our thoughts go out to his family in this difficult time and all of us will miss him terribly.”

Prior to joining UCSI, Mohd Karim held various positions at state and federal levels. He was the Education Ministry’s deputy director of services, the Ministry of Information’s director of planning and finance and Terengganu’s state development officer.

He was also Selangor’s deputy state secretary and economic planning unit director. In 1986, he was appointed as Selangor’s Investment Centre chairman to attract foreign direct investment to the state.

Under his watch, Selangor attracted around RM20bil in FDI and created over 50,000 jobs over a nine-year period.

The UCSI community mourns the passing of Mohd Karim and stands in solidarity with his family.