Prof. Dr. Ismi Arif Ismail has been serving as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) since 25 April 2022, with a three-year term ending on 24 April 2025. He holds a PhD in Continuing Education from the University of Warwick (UK), a Master’s in Extension Education from UPM, and a Bachelor of Education (Honours) in TESL from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. His areas of expertise include continuing education, teaching and learning, youth development, leadership, and human resource development.

Originally from Kedah, Prof. Dr. Ismi began his career at UPM in 2000 as a Lecturer in the Department of Professional Development and Continuing Education. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2008, Associate Professor in 2012, and Professor in 2020. Over the years, he has held various leadership roles such as:

• Head of Department of Professional Development and Continuing Education (2008)
  
  

• Deputy Dean (Research and Graduate Studies), Faculty of Educational Studies (2012–2013; 2017–2020)
  
  

• Director of the Institute for Social Science Studies (IPSAS) (2020–2022)
  
  

From 2013 to 2015, he was seconded to the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT), Ministry of Higher Education, as Deputy Director of the Teaching and Learning Leadership Centre.

He is the Executive Editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Youth Studies and serves on editorial boards including SAGE Open and the Asian Council of Science Editors. He also reviews for international journals such as BMC Medical Education, European Journal of Training and Development, and the Journal of the History of Education Society.

Beyond academia, he contributes to national policy development as a think tank member for the Institute for Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES), having played a key role in the Malaysian Youth Policy 2015–2035 and the Malaysian Youth Index since 2011. He was also involved in the National e-Learning Policy (DePaN) and has been a permanent member of the National Education Special Task Force (STF NE) and the National Employment Council (NEC) since 2022.

Internationally, he has worked with the Commonwealth Youth Secretariat, UNESCO, Khazanah Research Institute, McKinsey & Company, Ernst & Young, and Hay Group. He has also undertaken executive leadership training at Harvard Business School and Melbourne Business School.

In his current role, he focuses on academic policy, teaching and learning quality, quality assurance, and fostering international collaborations.