The Chancellery

General Information

The President of the Republic of Singapore is the Chancellor of the University. The Chancellor holds the authority to confer degrees and presides at Commencement when present. The Chancellor may appoint such persons to be Pro-Chancellors as s/he may consider proper. If for any reason the Chancellor is unable to exercise any of his functions, s/he may authorise any of the Pro-Chancellors to exercise those functions on his behalf. There are currently six Pro-Chancellors appointed by the Chancellor.

The Chancellor

President Halimah Yacob

Madam Halimah Yacob served in the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for 33 years and held various positions including as NTUC Deputy Secretary General, NTUC Director of the Legal Services Dept, NTUC Director of the Women’s Development Secretariat, Director of the Singapore Institute of Labour Studies (now known as the OTCI Institute) and Executive Secretary of the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries. She also represented NTUC on various national committees including the Economic Review Committee.

Madam Halimah also represented Singapore in the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation for 12 years, the first Singaporean to be elected into the ILO. She represented workers in many ILO committees including the Committee on International Labour Standards and Legal Issues, the Technical Committee and the Committee on Decent Work for Domestic Workers.

Madam Halimah secured her basic law degree and Masters in Law from the National University of Singapore. In 2016, she was conferred the Honorary Doctor of Laws by the NUS.

In 2001, Madam Halimah was first elected as a Member of Parliament for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency. Her final and fourth term as an MP was in the newly formed Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

In 2011, Madam Halimah was appointed Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development and Sports where she introduced various programmes for seniors, including home-based care, and enhanced services for the disabled through the Centre of Enabled Living (now known as SG Enable). She also laid the foundation for the establishment of the Social Services Offices.

In 2013, Madam Halimah was elected the ninth Speaker of Parliament and became the first woman to hold that position.

With her passion for social causes, Madam Halimah is patron to more than 40 organisations including The Courage Fund, Special Olympics Singapore, Youth Corp Singapore, Singapore International Foundation, Singapore Association of Mental Health and Ain Society.

Passionate about women’s issues, Madam Halimah was awarded the Woman of the Year by Her World Magazine (2003), the AWARE Heroine Award (2011) and is an inductee of the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (2014). She was conferred the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year in 2001.

Madam Halimah was sworn in as the 8th President of the Republic of Singapore on 14 September 2017.

Pro-Chancellors

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Mr Gautam Banerjee

Mr Gautam Banerjee currently serves as Chairman of Blackstone Singapore.

Mr Banerjee was the Executive Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Singapore for 9 years until his retirement on 31 December 2012. He was also the Chief Operating Officer for PwC Eastern Cluster, which includes China, Australia, Japan, Korea and South East Asia and a member of the global firm’s Strategy Council. Mr Banerjee was elected Executive Chairman of PwC Singapore in 2004, and served as the interim Chairman of PwC India in 2009/2010.

Mr Banerjee joined PwC Singapore in April 1982 after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in London and was admitted to the partnership in July 1989. He has led various business units in the firm, including its largest business unit, the Assurance practice.

Mr Banerjee’s current roles include serving as Chairman of the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise Ltd, a Term Trustee of Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), as well as serving on the Yale-NUS College Governing Board. He has also served on the Corporate Governance Council of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Companies Act Reform Steering Committee.

Currently, he serves on the Boards of Singapore Airlines Limited, Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Piramal Enterprises Limited and GIC Private Limited.

Mr Banerjee was a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore from 2007 to 2009. He served as a member of the Economic Strategies Committee chaired by the Finance Minister of Singapore from 2009/2010. He was awarded the Public Service Medal by the Singapore Government in 2014.

Mr Banerjee is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Singapore. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Accounting and Financial Analysis from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the same university in 2014.

Mr Chan Sek Keong

Mr Chan Sek Keong was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2015. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Malaya in Singapore in 1961. From 1962 to 1986, he worked at several law firms in Malaya and Singapore and was also a partner in Messrs Shook Lin & Bok, Kuala Lumpur.

He was appointed as Singapore's first Judicial Commissioner in 1986 and was subsequently appointed as a Judge in 1988. He became the first locally-qualified Attorney-General in 1992 and served in that capacity until 2006 when he was appointed as the Chief Justice of Singapore, a position he held until he retired in November 2012. He was a Senior Judge of the Supreme Court from 5 January 2015 to 4 January 2018.

He was conferred the Distinguished Service Order (Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang) DUBC, Singapore in 1999 and (Darjah Utama Temasek) the Order of Temasek (2nd Class) in 2008.

He is an honorary Doctor of Laws of the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Management University. He was the first local law graduate to be elected Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 2010. He joined the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Law as its first Distinguished Fellow in October 2014.

Mrs Theresa Foo

Mrs Theresa Foo currently serves as the Chairman of Singapore Business Federation Foundation. She works closely with the business community to build an inclusive Singapore by encouraging, enabling and enhancing the contributions of businesses to the social, vocational and educational upliftment of Singaporeans in need of assistance.

Mrs Foo is also a member of the Boards of Trustees of the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore National Employers Federation. She supports various charitable and social causes and is the immediate past Chairman of Viva Foundation for Children with Cancer.

In addition, Mrs Foo is the immediate past Chairman of Gardens by the Bay since its inception in 2011 till 2017. Together with the management, she was instrumental in steering the Gardens’ vision to be a world of gardens for all to own, enjoy and cherish. A champion in reinforcing the People’s Garden identity, she supported several initiatives to promote greater visitation and engagement of Singaporeans. The Gardens has garnered numerous local and international awards and accolades, including Singapore Prestige Brand Award and International Garden Tourism Leader Award, and has transformed into a place of wonder for all ages and an icon of Singapore.

Mrs Foo has had an illustrious career spanning over 40 years in the banking industry. She was Bank of America’s first female Vice President in Asia and later became the first Asian female Chief Executive appointed by Standard Chartered in 1993. She was nominated as one of Euromoney’s Top 50 Women in Finance in 1997. She served as the Chairman of BNP Paribas Capital (Singapore) from 2001 to 2009 before retiring as full-time banker.

Concurrent to her banking career, Mrs Foo has been deeply involved with the arts and heritage in Singapore. She is the immediate past Chairman of Esplanade Co Ltd where she helped with the building and growth of the national arts venue for 17 years. For her dedication to the arts and heritage in Singapore, she was named Champion of the Arts in 2001 and presented with the Friends of MCCY Award by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth in 2015. She was also recognised for her contributions to the Singapore community when she received the Public Service Star Medal in 2008 and the Meritorious Service Medal in 2014.

Mrs Foo graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Professor S Jayakumar

Professor S Jayakumar was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2020.

Professor Jayakumar graduated in 1963 as the top student of the Law Faculty at the University of Singapore. He served the University as a law lecturer from 1964 to 1971, and after a secondment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Singapore’s permanent representative to the United Nations, succeeding Tommy Koh, returned to serve as Dean of the Law Faculty from 1974 to 1980.

He entered politics in 1980 as a People’s Action Party candidate where he went on to hold several key ministerial positions in various portfolios – Law, Home Affairs, Labour and Foreign Affairs. In these positions, he dealt with many issues with far reaching impacts on the lives of Singaporeans, such as the Central Provident Fund (CPF) withdrawal age. Following the 1984 report of the Committee on the Problems of the Aged, which proposed that the retirement age should be raised from 55 to 65 years old in stages, Professor Jayakumar suggested a corresponding raise in the CPF withdrawal age. His proposal, dubbed the “Jaya formula” by The Straits Times, would allow workers to withdraw their CPF savings at age 55, but they had to leave a minimum sum in their CPF accounts to cover their basic expenses for the next 10 years until they were 65 years old. No decision was made on changing the CPF rules until 1986 when a minimum-sum scheme was introduced for CPF members who reach 55 years old without properties worth at least S$30,000.

As foreign minister, Professor Jayakumar handled several high-profile issues involving various countries. These included the points of agreement on Malayan Railways land, water, customs, immigration and quarantine, airspace and the Pedra Branca disputes with Malaysia; haze and extradition issues with Indonesia; and the Flor Contemplacion case with the Philippines. He was also credited for his role in getting Singapore elected to a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council from 2001 to 2002.

In 2007, Professor Jayakumar was appointed Deputy Prime Minister. He eventually retired from politics in 2011 and returned to the National University of Singapore’s Law Faculty as a professor of law on a pro bono basis. His new role involved providing guidance and advice to the Faculty's Centre for International Law, which was launched in 2009.

In 2012, Professor Jayakumar was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan for his role in enhancing relations between Singapore and Japan.

Mr Po’ad Bin Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar

Mr Po’ad Bin Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2012. He graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Singapore and holds a Master in Management from the Asian Institute of Management (Makati, Philippines). He is also a Chartered Accountant registered with the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.

Mr Po’ad Mattar was appointed as a Member of the Public Service Commission in 2004. Between 1992 and 2010, he has served as a Director of MediaCorp TV Singapore Private Limited (formerly Television Corporation of Singapore), member of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Council, member of the Public Utilities Board and director of its wholly-owned subsidiary, PUB Consultants Private Limited. He is currently a member of the Council of Presidential Advisers and sits on the Board of Directors of a few listed and non-listed companies. He has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (PJG), the Public Service Star (BBM), the Public Service Medal (PBM) and MUIS Distinguished Service Award.

Mr Teo Siong Seng

Mr Teo Siong Seng was appointed Pro-Chancellor in 2019. Mr Teo is the Executive Chairman/Managing Director of Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd ("PIL").

PIL was founded in 1967 by Mr Teo’s father, Mr Y C Chang (Chang and Teo are the same in Chinese 张). PIL’s activities include ship-owning, liner shipping, ship agencies, freight forwarding, container manufacturing, ship recycling, marine services, container depot/terminal operation, warehousing, logistics park, real estate and travel. PIL is ranked 9th among the top containership operators in the world and is the largest shipowner in South East Asia. PIL's subsidiary Singamas Container Holdings Ltd, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is the world's second largest container manufacturer with 10 container factories and operates 8 depots in China.

Mr Teo is the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Singamas. He is also currently the Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the apex business chamber in Singapore that represents the interests of the Singapore business community locally and abroad.

His other appointments are as follows: Honorary President of Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Director, Business China; Co-Chairman of Africa-South East Asia Chamber of Commerce; Honorary Consul of The United Republic of Tanzania in Singapore; Independent non-executive Director of COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. and COSCO SHIPPING Energy Transportation Co., Ltd.; Board Member of Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and Member of the Future Economy Council (FEC).