Jamaludin Jarjis Malaysia’s Ambassador To US

(Bernama) — Former cabinet minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis, 58, has been appointed the new Malaysian ambassador to the United States effective on Tuesday, Wisma Putra said in a statement.

It said the Rompin member of parliament, who is a member of the Umno Supreme Council, would hold ministerial rank.

He is scheduled to receive his instrument of appointment from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on Tuesday.

Dr Jamaludin, who has a doctorate in electrical engineering majoring in power systems from McGill University, Canada, joined the cabinet as the second finance minister in November 2002.

In a minor cabinet reshuffle in January 2004, he was appointed domestic trade and consumer affairs minister and about three months later as the science, technology and innovation minister, a post he held until March last year.

"Prior to joining the cabinet, he was chairman of Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the national power utility company and the largest listed company on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) in terms of market capitalisation," Wisma Putra said on Monday.

He was also a former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the chairman of the Parliament Back Benchers Club (BBC), it said.

Dr Jamaludin began his career as a lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 1974 and left in 1984 to start his own consultancy service, J & A Associaties, specialising in electrical power and mechanical engineering.

He is married to Dr Kalsom Ismail, a dentist by qualification, and they have four children.