KUCHING — Galvin Lee Kuan Sian, a 25-year-old educator from Sarawak, has been named a 2026 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians (TOYM) honouree in the Academic Leadership and/or Accomplishment category for his work in AI-powered, experiential and student-centred business education.
The national recognition was presented at the 2026 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians Awards Ceremony on 19 September at the Sheraton Johor Bahru, under the theme “One Nation, One Vision” hosted by JCI South Key under JCI Malaysia.
Born in Kuching, Lee serves as a lecturer and programme coordinator in business education at a private higher education institution in Malaysia, and is also a PhD candidate and researcher in Marketing at the Asia-Europe Institute of Universiti Malaya. He was recognised for a portfolio of innovations including AI-powered persona simulations, gamified business learning, microlearning, assessment support and academic quality assurance, all aimed at moving students beyond passive content learning toward active interaction, decision-making and reflection.
Among his flagship projects is the Global Voices: AI Persona Lab, an AI-supported environment where students engage with simulated consumer personas to apply consumer behaviour concepts through interaction rather than conventional instruction. The project has won Gold Awards at Malaysian teaching and learning innovation platforms, including the International University Carnival on E-Learning (IUCEL). Lee has also developed virtual business simulations that let students apply theory through decisions, consequences and problem-solving in gamified settings.
Coming from a family of educators, both his parents are teachers, Lee said in his acceptance speech that growing up in such an environment nurtured his commitment to education from an early age. He shared a recent classroom moment in which students, surprised to learn he is only 25, told him they had been reading about his work to understand the choices and efforts behind his career, reinforcing his belief that educators influence students not only through what they teach but also through the examples they set. “We don’t have to be the best. We just have to do the right things and to do the things right,” Lee said.
The TOYM programme recognises Malaysians aged 18 to 40 for achievements and contributions across ten fields. For Lee, the award spotlights the role younger academics can play as artificial intelligence, digital learning and changing student expectations reshape how teaching is designed and delivered, with his current work continuing to focus on the intersection of education, technology and applied learning alongside his research in marketing and consumer behaviour.