Board changes at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Professor Tan Eng Chye will be appointed President of the National University of Singapore (NUS) on 1 January 2018. He is the University’s fifth president- and the 23rd leader to head Singapore’s oldest higher education institution. Prior to this- he was NUS’ provost for the past 10 years.

Prof Tan- who attended Raffles Institution (1974 to 1979)- obtained his Bachelor in Mathematics (First Class Honours- 1985) at NUS and his PhD (1989) at Yale University. He joined NUS as a Senior Tutor in the Department of Mathematics in 1985- and has held visiting positions at various universities overseas such as the Rutgers University- University of Washington at Seattle- University of California at Berkeley and University of Maryland- USA; Universities of Tokyo and Kyoto- Japan; as well as the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Prof Tan's research interests are in the Representation Theory of Lie Groups and Lie Algebras; and Invariant Theory and Algebraic Combinatorics. He has been invited to speak in numerous top conferences overseas- and has published more than 20 articles in top internationally-refereed journals and conference proceedings. He has co-authored three books on mathematics- including a well-known graduate text on non-Abelian harmonic analysis.

Prof Tan is a passionate and award-winning educator. He was a pioneer architect of the current academic system in NUS- and has seeded many initiatives such as the Special Programme in Science- University Scholars Programme- University Town Residential College Programme- Grade-free Year- and Technology-enhanced Education. He was recognised with the University Teaching Award for Innovative Teaching in 1998- and was President of the Singapore Mathematical Society (2001 to 2005) as well as the South East Asian Mathematical Society (2004 to 2005).

Prof Tan sits on the International Advisory Council of the Southern University of Science and Technology in China. He is on the boards of the Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA)- social enterprise Bizlink Centre- and NUS High School of Mathematics and Science. He was previously board member of Defence Science Organisation (DSO) Laboratories- National Institute of Education and the then-Infocomm Development Agency. 

Professor Subra Suresh is an eminent American scientist- engineer and entrepreneur with a strong record of distinguished and impactful leadership in academia- industry and government. He will begin his tenure as President of NTU from 1 January 2018.

Prior to this- he served at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) as President from 2013 to 2017. He was also Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2010 to 2013- and Dean of the School of Engineering and Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering from 2007 to 2010 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)- where he was a faculty member for two decades.

During President Suresh’s tenure- CMU assembled the most diverse senior leadership team in its history- established a strategic plan through an inclusive campus-wide process- recruited a record proportion of outstanding female first-year undergraduate students in computer science and engineering- founded and chaired the Global Learning Council as an international forum to help improve learning outcomes through technology- and launched a historic campus infrastructure development effort.

Prof Suresh was nominated by Former President of the United States Barack Obama in 2010 to lead the US National Science Foundation. As Director- he oversaw an annual budget of US$7 billion that supports fundamental research and innovation in all fields of science and engineering and related education in more than 2-000 institutions across the US and in a number of research facilities across the globe from the Arctic to Antarctica.

Prof Suresh has had numerous high-level interactions with Singapore for nearly a quarter of a century. He served as a consultant to the then-National Science and Technology Board and the Advisory Boards or Councils of institutes under the Agency for Science- Technology and Research (A*STAR)- and other government bodies. He was also on the Boards of several faculties within the National University of Singapore (NUS)- where he was the inaugural Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Chair from 2006 to 2010.

Prof Suresh is currently an independent Director of HP Inc in California. He is also a member of the Science- Technology and Innovation Council of Munich-based multinational company- Siemens AG- and a Senior Adviser to Singapore’s Temasek International Pte Ltd. He has previously served as a Director of LORD Corporation- a North Carolina-based private company offering technology products and services around the globe- and several nonprofit organisations in the US and overseas.

Prof Suresh holds the distinction of being the only university president elected to all three US National Academies of Sciences- Engineering and Medicine. He has also been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. He was chosen by Science Watch/Thomson Reuters as one of the top 100 most impactful materials scientists (based on publication citation impact) during the decade 2000-2010. Prof Suresh’s research in materials science and engineering- and mechanics and biomedicine- has helped to shape disciplines and technologies at the intersections of engineering- science and medicine.

Dr Kwa was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of NSL Ltd and during her 23-year tenure- also served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Technology- responsible for the R&D- IT- Energy & Environmental investments and strategies of the NSL Group. Dr Kwa was the Chairman of Raffles Marina Holdings Ltd for 12 years and a member of the Board of the Groups companies in Australia- Thailand- China and Malaysia.

Dr Kwa is a member of the Management Board of the Energy Studies Institute- and the Technology Advisory Panel of Sembcorp Industries Ltd as well as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. She is a member on the panel for Quality Assessment Framework for MoE in Singapore. She is on the Boards of Southern Steel Berhad in Malaysia and Barghest Building Performance- Singapore.

Dr Kwa served as Chairman of the National Energy Efficiency Committee for Industries in Singapore from 2000 to 2009- and as a Panel member of the 2009 Inter Ministerial Sustainability Green Plan for Singapore. She is currently a member of the Steering Committee of the Singapore Certified Energy Managers’ Programme.

Dr Kwa holds a BSc (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD from the University of Leeds- United Kingdom.