Zeti Akhtar Aziz

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Ungku Abdul Aziz is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Ungku Zeti Akhtar.

Yang Mulia Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr Ungku Zeti Akhtar Aziz
اوڠكو زيتي اختر بنت اوڠكو عبدالعزيز
7th Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia
In office 1 May 2000 – 30 April 2016
Preceded by	Ali Abul Hassan bin Sulaiman
Succeeded by	Muhammad bin Ibrahim
Member of the Malaysian Council of Eminent Persons
In office 12 May 2018 – 21 August 2018
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Group Chairperson of Permodalan Nasional Berhad
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2018
Preceded by	Abdul Wahid Omar
Chairperson of Sime Darby Property Bhd
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 July 2018
Personal details
Born	Ungku Zeti Akhtar binti Ungku Abdul Aziz (1947-08-27) August 27, 1947 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malayan Union
Nationality	Malaysia
Parent(s)	Ungku Aziz Sharifah Azah Mohamed Alsagoff
Alma mater	University of Malaya University of Pennsylvania
Profession	Economist
Signature

Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Ungku Zeti Akhtar binti Ungku Abdul Aziz (Jawi: اوڠكو زيتي اختر بنت اوڠكو عبدالعزيز; born 27 August 1947), known professionally as Zeti Akhtar Aziz, was the 7th Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysia's central bank. She was governor from 2000 to 2016, and was the first woman in the position. She is one of the member of five Council of Elders in Mahathir's second time administration, a special advisory council advising the government on economic and financial matters during this transitional period.

Early life

Zeti Akhtar Aziz was born in Johor Bahru, Johor on 27 August 1947; to father Ungku Aziz, who is of Malay, Circassian and English descent, and mother Sharifah Azah Mohamed Alsagoff, who was of Hadhrami Arab and Malay descent. Her father Ungku Aziz is an economist and former vice-chancellor for the University of Malaya from 1968 to 1988, to which he was given the title "Royal Professor".

She received her early education at the Assunta High School, Petaling Jaya in 1958. She then completed her Form 6 in St. John's Institution, Kuala Lumpur. In 1970, she received a bachelor's degree in Economics from University Malaya.

She continued her studies in the Department of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, receiving a PhD in monetary and international economics in 1978. As part of her PhD, dissertation she carried out pioneering work on capital flows and its implications for monetary policy.

Career

Zeti began her career as an economic analyst for the South-East Asia Central Bank Training & Research Center, remaining at that post from 1979 to 1984. She was then appointed Deputy Manager of the Economics Department at Bank Negara Malaysia.

In 2009, Global Finance named her as one of the world's best central bank chiefs. In 2010 during the national-level Ma'al Hijrah celebrations held that year, the Malaysian government had awarded her with the title of "Tokoh Ma'al Hijrah 1432H" ("Figure of the New Year 1432AH").

On 20 May 2011, Bloomberg columnist William Pesek had picked Zeti, during her post as Bank Negara governor, as one of his top four nominees to head the prestigious International Monetary Fund after the position became vacant following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn who was arrested in New York, and is presently facing sexual assault charges.

In 2013, she was again accorded “Grade A” among the heads of central banks for the 10th time by the Global Finance magazine. She was awarded alongside Philippines’ central bank governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. and Taiwan’s Central Bank Governor Perng Fai-nan, from a list of central bank governors of more than 50 key countries.

Zeti was also the Chairman of the Asian Institute of Finance.

In 12 May 2018, it was announced by the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir that Zeti has been appointed as a member in the Council of Elders, which will serve as advisors to the new government under Pakatan Harapan after the coalition won the 2018 general elections. She will join Daim Zainuddin, Robert Kuok, Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Hassan Merican. The purpose of this Council is to advise the Government on matters pertaining to economic and financial matters during the transition of power period.

Zeti was appointed the group chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) on July 1. She was also appointed the Chairman of Sime Darby Property. She is the first woman to hold the post.

Personal life

Zeti is married to Dato' Dr Tawfiq Ayman, and they have two children namely Alif and Aziz.

Honour

Honour of Malaysia

• Malaysia : Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (P.S.M.) (2001)

• The Royal Award for Islamic Finance - honouring excellence in Islamic Finance on 3rd October 2018