Emeritus Professor Dr Ahmat Adam is a historian who specialises in the history of the Indonesian Press and the Emergence of Nationalism. He is known internationally for pioneering the early vernacular press and the emergence of Indonesian national consciousness. He continued studying the Malay press from the 19th century until after World War II. Upon returning from his postgraduate studies in London, he served as a lecturer in UKM (1975 - 1995), Head of Department (1983- 1985), Deputy Dean (1987- 1989) and Dean (1980-1991). In 1995, he moved to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to establish a centre offering liberal studies. He was awarded the Honorary Degree of Professor Emeritus at the 12th Convocation Ceremony of the UMS in 2010 in recognition of his contribution in establishing the Science and Language Disclosure Centre at UMS. Emeritus Professor Dr Ahmat has held several leadership roles such as President of the UKM Academic Staff Association, a member of the Malaysian Government Committee of Accreditation, Vice-President at the Malaysian Association of Social Sciences, a member of the Malaysian Branch Council of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS), International Association of Historians of Asia (S.E. Asia) and President of International Association of Historians of Asia (2000). As a reputable expert in modern Indonesian history, he was appointed as a senior researcher Fellow at Oxford Center for Islamic Studies. He was also involved in UNESCO’s Maritime Silk Route project. He has produced more than 15 books published nationally and internationally throughout his involvement in academic research. Amongst his important books are the history and bibliographies of the 19th century Malay magazine in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka (UKM, 1994), The Vernacular Press and the Emergence of Modern Indonesian Consciousness 1856 - 1913 (Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1995), Letters of Sincerity: The Raffles Collection of Malay Letters (1780 - 1824) (MRAS, 2009), Malay, Radical and National Nationalism (UM, 2013). Emeritus Professor Dr Ahmat is the second scholar to have exhaustively studied the hitherto unknown 18thcentury version of the Sulalat u’s-Salatin (Malay Annals) kept at the Oriental Archives in St. Petersburg, Russia. The only extant study of these 1,798 manuscripts is in Russian, hence not accessible to an international readership.