Prof. Francis Koh-Wah LOH (Academic Advisor)
Francis Kok-Wah LOH, a Malaysian, was Professor of Politics in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang until his retirement in 2012. He has been a Visiting Scholar/Research Fellow at Monash and Melbourne Universities in Australia, in Kyoto University, and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He has received research grants from the Swedish International Development Agency (1996-2002),
The Ford Foundation (2005-2008), and served as Director of the Regional Workshop of the Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship Program (Nippon Foundation) in 2010-11. He has consulted for the UNDP, the UNRISD, the Penang State Government, and the Forum of Federations where is now Senior Advisor. In this capacity he has been a key part of the Forum’s team conducting workshops on federalism, devolution and good governance in Burma (2012-15). He has authored or edited several books and articles. Francis was president (2011-16) and before that for 20 years, of Aliran, a multiethnic human rights organisation based in Penang.
He went to primary and secondary schools in Malaysia and completed his education in America (BA Dartmouth College, 1974) and PhD in Political Science and Southeast Asian Studies, Cornell University, 1980).