Dr. Athanasia Nointin presently heads INTI College Sabah’s (INTI) School of Degree Programmes and is a driving force for many. As one of the leading ladies at INTI, this inspirational individual shares her journey, motivations and success on how she achieved academic excellence and currently influences change in the organization, making it into the institution it is known for today.
Dr. Athanasia formed her love of learning from a young age, making academic excellence a natural and easy choice for her.
Born Athanasia Isabelle Nointin, the Penampang local grew up in a family of twelve with her parents and nine siblings. The second youngest of ten siblings formed a passion for reading and love of learning from a young age, making accomplishing academic excellence a natural and easy choice for her. She shared that she cultivated her love of learning when her late mother would buy her nice gifts each time she achieved good grades in school.
The studious individual completed her primary to tertiary education in Sabah and earned herself a Bachelors in Business Administration (Hons) (Marketing) from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Sabah. Her next step into the workforce would also foster an added passion for the learning-hungry individual.
“Upon graduating with my degree, I spent a brief time teaching secondary school students. This experience formed my love as an academician along with my passion for giving back to the community through education,” shared the-then-budding-academician.
The cerebral and giving individual also has an enterprising side.
“I moved into the business sector to build up my professional competencies and spent close to 20 years in business operations and management from diverse industries, including a total of nine years in the travel and tourism sector. After a year in the tourism industry, I decided to set up my own travel and tour company,” she shared.
With invested resources in the industry, the travel and tourism sector became close to home for Athanasia. Hence, when she observed the persistent challenges of employee turnovers and its impact on the industry’s organizations, she sought to develop long-term solutions from her trusted companion – education.
Dr. Athanasia in a college event at INTI College Sabah posing for a photograph with one of her students.
Her determination led her to pursue her MBA and eventually completing her PhD in Business Management, earning herself the honorific title of Dr. The giving individual completed her PhD whilst working at INTI and further shared recommendations for other organizations in the industry to address employee turnover through her findings.
Chiming in on Dr. Athanasia’s academic success, Roselyn Chua, Chief Executive of INTI College Sabah, shares, “Dr. Athanasia’s PhD success is demonstrative of INTI’s efforts to uphold academic excellence amongst our staff and students. Academic excellence increases an individual’s access to more employment opportunities and in securing higher salaries than their counterparts.”
She added, “Dr. Athanasia’s intellectual skills combined with her extensive industrial experience provide our students the opportunity to gain deeper insights into industry trends and challenges while churning quality academic results.”
Currently a Head of School and senior lecturer at INTI, Athanasia is happier than ever as she continues to follow her passion in teaching and nurturing young minds for tomorrow.