"I am profoundly honoured and deeply humbled,” Professor Elizabeth Lee says, reflecting on receiving an honorary degree from Lancaster after nearly 20 years of collaboration between Lancaster and Sunway Education Group. The accolade recognises not only Professor Lee’s leadership but a partnership that has transformed access to education in Malaysia and developed as a leading example of Transnational Education.

What began as an accreditation model with Lancaster supporting what was then Sunway College, has evolved into a layered and rich partnership. “Our partnership started with the aim to provide students in Malaysia the opportunity to acquire dual degrees from Sunway and another from Lancaster,” Professor Lee explains. Over time the relationship expanded to include study‑abroad and summer exchange programmes and matured into research collaboration, most notably the joint Future Cities Research Institute.

Professor Lee tells the story of the partnership as more than programmatic growth. Sunway arrived on the international stage as a college of higher learning; with Lancaster’s belief and collaboration, it became a university with global reach. “We were brave and daring, with ideas and ideals, and an enterprising spirit to challenge the norm and to pioneer a more visionary university,” she says. For Professor Lee, the honorary degree is “a tremendous honour indeed,” and a public recognition of that shared journey.

The human consequences of the partnership are best captured in a memory recalled by Professor Andrew Abbott, former Academic Dean of Lancaster University at Sunway. “I remember a taxi driver telling me that every penny of his savings was going towards his daughter’s degree at Sunway because they could not afford to send her to the UK. That, for me, captures the impact of what Elizabeth has helped to build.” That single encounter distils the partnership’s social purpose: widening access to high‑quality education and changing life trajectories across communities.

The sentiment is echoed by Lancaster University’s Professor Simon Guy, Pro‑Vice‑Chancellor Global, who praised Professor Lee’s role: “Elizabeth has played a leading role in the development of the Lancaster/Sunway relationship since its inception over 17 years ago. Colleagues here at Lancaster remain enormously grateful to her for her wisdom and her friendship, which has led our partnership to be one of the most successful transnational education programmes in the world today, offering a model that is envied by many.”

There is a popular story at Lancaster University that tells of how Professor Lee met a visitor to Sunway from Lancaster in the hotel lobby and gave him a personal tour of Kuala Lumpur. Her personal approach to the partnership between Lancaster and Sunway plays no small part in its success.

Professor Lee herself attributes the partnership’s durability to a few core principles: mutual benefit, long‑term commitment and a belief in education as a force for social good. “Time and trust are the true treasures here,” she says, noting that financial investment alone cannot substitute for sustained human relationships. She also points to national frameworks such as the Malaysia Education Blueprints as guiding structures while insisting universities must remain forward‑looking, especially as digital technologies reshape learning and research.

Her leadership philosophy is succinct and aspirational: “Live not for myself but for the purpose I was created, using the talents I was gifted for what’s good for humanity and the planet,” and “Always think out of the box.” Those truths have informed Sunway’s strategy to empower students and communities through education, research and social innovation.

Professor Lee’s advice to graduates is practical and moral: embrace change, treat challenges as stepping stones and choose a purpose‑driven life. “You have the power to shape the future, to inspire change, and to be catalysts for progress in a world which craves compassion, empathy, and innovative solutions,” she tells students. That message mirrors the partnership’s trajectory, a pragmatic response to access and quality that has become a platform for leadership development and civic engagement.

As the partnership approaches its 20th anniversary, Professor Lee is clear about the next phase: deepen ties, broaden learning pathways and explore new areas of joint work that will benefit students and the wider educational landscape. She sees digital innovation, sustainability and urban research as natural growth areas for the Future Cities work and for joint programmes that respond to regional needs.

Lancaster’s decision to award an honorary degree on Professor Lee is both recognition and a statement about the value of long‑term, trust‑based partnerships in higher education. It celebrates an individual who has stewarded institutional change and a model of transnational education that balances academic rigour with social impact. For students, staff and communities on both sides of the partnership, the honour is a reminder that international collaboration can be transformative when it is built on shared values and mutual respect.

“Embrace diversity, engage in discourse to broaden your perspectives and understand that true wisdom lies not just in what you have learned but also in your willingness to learn from others,” Professor Lee says, closing with a call that captures the spirit of the Lancaster–Sunway story: learning as a lifelong, shared venture.