Madeline Berma received her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Hull, England; Masters of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Bachelors of Economics from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Madeline Berma is currently Fellow of Akademi Sains Malaysia. She served as Deputy Chair, Education Policy Review (Oct, 2018-May 2019). She was an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) until she retired in 2018. She served as the Director, the Tun Fatimah Hashim Women’s Leadership Centre, UKM from 2011-2016.

Madeline has done extensive research, delivered papers and published on economic development, focusing on rural development, poverty, indigenous communities and women. She was a member of research teams conducting policy-impact studies on Poverty in Sarawak, Urban Poverty in Four Major Towns in Sarawak, Policies on Women in Johor, Dayak Education, Socialisation in Sarawak, Women Labour Force Needs for SCORE, Sabah Women’s Development Plan, Orang Asli Development in Tasik Chini, Education Policy Review. She had been involved in consultancy jobs for the Federal and State governments.

Madeline was a member of the Malaysian Government’s delegation to the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women (2015-2017), and Women and Economy Forum (2012) in Rusia. She also worked extensively with Government agencies and NGOs, particularly on economic empowerment programs. She had been a panelist on tv/radio ( RTM, TV3, Astro Awani, NTV9, Bernama) panel discussions on economic and social issues.

The Government of Malaysia has appointed Madeline to 7 national-level consultative committees: (a) the National Unity and Consultative Committee (NUCC); (b) Women’s Advisory and Consultative Council; (c) Consultative Committee on Political Funding; (d) Committee to Promote Inter-Religious Harmony & Understanding, (e) Public Complaints Bureau, (f) National Heritage Council; and (g) Committe on Education Policy Review.