Professor Chong Tow Chong was appointed President of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) in April 2018. He had been SUTD’s founding Provost since 2010, where he played an instrumental role in steering the strategic development and operationalisation of SUTD. As President, he provides leadership and guidance in the next phase of the University’s growth and development, as well as ensuring continuity in the pursuit of SUTD’s vision, mission and strategic goals.

Prior to joining SUTD, Prof Chong had been the Executive Director of A*STAR’s Science and Engineering Research Council and Data Storage Institute for 15 years. He also had a 30-year academic career with the National University of Singapore as Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Prof Chong authored and co-authored over 400 publications in international refereed journals, presented over 35 invited talks and registered 25 patents. He was recipient of the President’s Science and Technology Medal, the Public Administration Medal (Silver), the ASME ISPS Division Leadership in Research and Development Award and the Teaching Excellence Award from NUS.

He received his B.Eng from Tokyo Institute of Technology, M.Eng from NUS and Sc.D from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, all in Electrical Engineering.

Abstract of the speech:

We are now living in a fast-changing world with increasing volatility, uncertainty and complexity brought about by rapid urbanization, digital transformation, security, climate change and geopolitics, to name a few. In this dynamic and evolving landscape, are existing higher education keeping in pace to respond to these new challenges in educating future-ready graduates to bring the world forward? If we were to create a world-class university from scratch, what would be our vision and approach to transform higher education?  This talk attempts to provide some answers to the above questions by sharing the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD’s) model of education with a mission to nurture technically-grounded leaders and innovators through a multi-disciplinary, design-centric education, research and culture.