Dr. Ismail Kailani served at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for 42 years, from June 1974 until March 2015. He began his career as an Assistant Lecturer in Mathematics at the School of Science and later held several important positions, such as the founding Head of the Department of Science and Technical Education, serving three terms as Deputy Dean, and being one of the main founders and principal authors of the proposal paper for the establishment of the Faculty of Science at UTM.

He was then entrusted with the task of establishing the Faculty of Education at UTM and, once again, played the role of a driving force and the principal author of the proposal paper for the Faculty’s establishment, which he presented to the Ministry of Education Malaysia. Dr Ismail was subsequently transferred to the Faculty of Education in 1994. During the same period, he was directly involved in the committee responsible for the establishment of the School of Graduate Studies at UTM.

Having served in various centres and faculties such as the Faculty of Science (FS), the School for Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE), and the Research Management Centre (RMC), he was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Education (FP) on 16 August 2002. Under his leadership, FP expanded its undergraduate programmes and significantly strengthened its postgraduate programmes, making FP the faculty with the largest number of postgraduate students. The Faculty’s management continued to improve and operate with excellence, culminating in FP receiving the Vice-Chancellor’s Quality Award during his tenure as Dean.

Dr. Ismail Kailani was the recipient of numerous awards, including the UTM Jasa Bakti Award (1995), the UTM Community Service Award (1996), the UTM Excellence in Service Award (1997), the Kesatria Mangku Negara (Officer of the Order of the Defender of the Realm) (2002), the Excellent Service Award (2004), and the UTM Jasa Setia Award (2006).