NUS Bulletin AY2023/24

General Information

The Chancellery

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 Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam was elected as Singapore’s President in September 2023.

He served in politics for 22 years before resigning to contest in the Presidential Election. He was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister for several years, and Education Minister earlier. He last served in government as Senior Minister. He also served as Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, over the 12 years to 2023.

Mr Tharman was committed through his years in government to building economic resilience and a more inclusive society. He introduced major educational reforms while serving as Education Minister, to make for a broader and more flexible system of meritocracy. He later led the ‘SkillsFuture’ programme, aimed at enabling life-long learning for all. He has also promoted initiatives to deepen and advance Singapore’s model of multiculturalism.

He led tripartite councils from 2011 to 2016 which sought to improve jobs for lower-income workers and uplift productivity by promoting innovation and deeper skills, and the implementation of industry-specific transformation programmes. In addition, he chaired the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institution for over two decades, and the International Academic Advisory Panel which advises the government on strategies for university education from 2011 to 2023.

Internationally, Mr Tharman has led several high level councils focused on global financial reforms, preparedness for future pandemics, education, and global water sustainability. In 2019, the Institute of International Finance awarded him its inaugural Distinguished Leadership and Service Award.

He currently chairs the Board of the Group of Thirty, an independent global council of economic and financial leaders from the public and private sectors. He also co-chairs the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, as well as the Advisory Board for the UN’s Human Development Report. He is in addition on the World Economic Forum’s Board of Trustees, which advises the WEF on its strategic directions.

Following his schooling in Singapore, Mr Tharman did a BSc in Economics at the London School of Economics and an MPhil in Economics at the University of Cambridge. He later obtained a Master’s in Public Administration at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he was conferred the Lucius N Littauer Fellow award for outstanding performance and leadership potential.

Mr Tharman is married to Ms Jane Ittogi, a lawyer by background and actively engaged in social development and sustainability initiatives. They have a daughter and three sons.

 

Pro-Chancellors