University of Science, Malaysia  With around 28,300 postgraduate and undergraduate students in 2009, USM is one of the largest universities in terms of enrollment in Malaysia. The number of lecturers is about 1,479, which leads to a student-lecturer ratio of around 19:1. USM is the only Accelerated Programs for Excellence (APEX) government-funded autonomous university in Malaysia. The idea of a university in Penang was first mooted by D. S. Ramanathan in 1959 in the State Assembly and later crystallised when he was nominated chairman of the Penang University Project committee. The acquisition of a piece of land in Sungai Ara was then followed by the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Y.T.M Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj on 7 August 1967. USM was established as a statutory body in 1969 as the second university in Malaysia. It was first known as Universiti Pulau Pinang. The university operated on borrowed premises at the Malayan Teachers' Training College at Gelugor. In 1971, it moved to its present 239-hectare site at Minden (formerly Minden Barracks of the British Far East Command) in Gelugor, 10 kilometres from the city of Georgetown. There are two other USM campuses: one at Kubang Kerian in Kelantan, known as the Health campus, and the other at Seri Ampangan, Nibong Tebal in Penang, known as the Engineering campus. The former houses the School of Medical Sciences, the School of Health Sciences and the School of Dental Sciences, while the latter houses the six engineering schools. Universiti Sains Malaysia teaches in the fields of Pure Sciences, Applied Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Building Science and Technology, Social Sciences, Humanities and Education as well as conducts research. USM offers courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to more than 28,000 students. USM has won the Asian Innovation Award in which USM emerged as the only winner from this country. The management of the university is carried out through the executive power of the Board of Directors, made up of members chosen from the university, representatives from government departments and those appointed by the Ministry of Higher Education. There are three Deputy Vice-Chancellors led by the Vice-Chancellor. In August 2011 USM created a new role of Ombudsman to deal with staff issues and protect whistleblowers. The USM Ombudsman is Prof. Dato' Seri Dr. MD. Salleh Yaapar, who is a former staff of the USM and is on a rolling 2-year contract.