In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Aziz is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Zeti Akhtar. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.
Ungku Zeti Akhtar binti Ungku Abdul Aziz (born 27 August 1947) was the 7th Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysia's central bank. She served as Governor from 2000 to 2016, and was the first woman in the position and at 16 years, the longest to hold the position. Zeti was one of the members of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) in Mahathir's second administration, a special advisory council advising the government on economic and financial matters during this transitional period.[1]
Early life
Zeti Akhtar Aziz was born in Johor Bahru, Johor on 26 August 1947; to father Ungku Aziz, who is of Malay, Circassian[2][3] and English[4] descent, and mother Sharifah Azah Mohamed Alsagoff, who was of HadhramiArab and Malay descent.[5][6] Her father Ungku Aziz was an economist and former vice-chancellor for the University of Malaya from 1968 to 1988. He received the title "Royal Professor".
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.[7] In 2010 during the national-level Ma'al Hijrah celebrations held that year, the Malaysian government had awarded her the title of "Tokoh Ma'al Hijrah 1432H" ("Figure of the New Year 1432AH").[8]
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.[9]
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.[10]
Zeti was named the recipient of Central Banking's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.[11]
She receives The Royal Award for Islamic Finance in honouring the excellence service in Islamic Finance on 3 October 2018.[12][13]
Zeti who was the Chairman of the Asian Institute of Finance has also receives the William “Bill” Seidman Award for Lifetime Achievement in Leadership in the Financial Services Industry for 2018.[14]
