Noripah Kamso, '80, Joins NIUAA Board of Directors With International Business Experience
By Tony Scott
Noripah Kamso, '80, was named to the NIUAA Board of Directors effective July 1. (Photo by Noripah Kamso)
Noripah Kamso, ’80, has had a successful career in banking and wants to be an ambassador for her home country of Malaysia and her alma mater through her new position as a member of the NIU Alumni Association Board of Directors. Kamso joined the board on July 1, 2024.
“It gives me great joy in life to introduce Malaysia to NIU and vice versa,” she said. “This includes mentoring new students and sharing the cultural, economic and social diversity in Asia and Malaysia.”
Kamso continues to visit the DeKalb campus. She estimates she has visited NIU 10 times since she graduated in 1980 and keeps in touch with her two host families who housed her while at NIU, the Deweys and the Johnsons.
“NIU influenced my life to the core, specifically through my involvement with host families,” she said. “The experience was so impactful that I have reciprocated and to date have hosted 14 students from all over the world at my home. I feel so blessed.”
Kamso is the founder chairman of Arabesque Malaysia, a London-based sustainability FinTech company, and the founder advisor of Pantas Carbon Solution Management, a software company.
Kamso has been a speaker at conferences across five continents over the past 20 years. She authored a book, “Investing in Islamic Funds: A Practitioner’s Perspective,” in 2014. She was a global practitioner in residence at Drake University in Iowa in 2015.
Kamso served as chairman of Bank Rakyat Malaysia, one of the top 10 largest Islamic banks in the world in terms of assets and profitability. She was ranked in 2019 by Cambridge International Financial Advisory as the Most Influential Woman in Islamic Business and Finance for breaking barriers and creating new possibilities.
In addition to her bachelor’s degree from NIU, Kamso earned a diploma in business studies from Institute Technology Mara in Malaysia and a Master of Business Administration from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
Kamso believes being on the board will help NIU in a variety of ways.
“For NIU, me being on the board will assist the university in its scholarly aspirations to collaborate with Malaysian institutions, universities, alumni and government,” she said. “I will also assist more students to have access to good quality education by exploring scholarships or to host for internships. Let them embrace a worldview and ultimately be part of NIU alumni who can contribute back to the university and the planet’s future.”
She continued, “For me, being on the board will also increase an opportunity for global networking. I want to introduce the broad NIU community to Malaysian culture and its social tapestry.”
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