New appointments
From left: Ms Goh, Prof Allen and Prof Rigg
Cinnamon College welcomed its second Rector Ms Euleen Goh, who hails from the financial sector, on 1 July. She succeeds eminent East Asia historian Professor Wang Gungwu, who was the College's inaugural Rector since its inception in 2010.
Cinnamon College is home to NUS' University Scholars Programme (USP), a multidisciplinary, residential cum academic programme for undergraduates. As College Rector, Ms Goh will facilitate programmes for and distinguished visits to the College, while working with College Master and Director of USP Associate Professor Kang Hway Chuan to build a sense of community and belonging among College residents and Fellows.
A Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Ms Goh holds further professional qualifications in banking and taxation. She was the first Singaporean to head the Standard Chartered Bank's sales, corporate, and institutional banking business in 1999.
Ms Goh is a non-executive board member of Royal Dutch Shell plc, CapitaLand Limited, SATS Ltd, DBS Group Holdings Ltd, DBS Bank Ltd, Singapore Health Services Pte Ltd and a Trustee of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs Endowment Fund. She also chairs the Board of her alma mater, Singapore Chinese Girls' School and the Board of Governors of NorthLight School as well as DBS Foundation Ltd. Ms Goh is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Directors.
Ms Goh has garnered many accolades and earned a place in the Singapore Women Hall of Fame for her professional success and life achievements. She was named Her World Woman of the Year 2005; awarded a Public Service Medal for her contributions to the financial services sector in 2005 and a Public Service Star for her work with the Accounting Standards Council in 2012; and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in May 2013.
She has also contributed to public service through youth mentorship and community programmes, and recently stepped down as Chairman of the Singapore International Foundation.
Ms Goh said that the University Town residential college initiative is a worthy extension of the learning and experiential journey of the students as it prepares them for the uncertain and complex world beyond university. "It provides a timely opportunity for our students to engage and shape their aspirations and purpose, she added. "An aim of our college is to encourage and empower our students to be positive changemakers and for our graduates to lead meaningful and impactful lives, both in the workplace and in the community at large.
Two other appointment changes at the Faculty of Dentistry (FoD) and the Asia Research Institute (ARI) will take effect in early 2016.
Professor Patrick Finbarr Allen will be appointed as FoD's Dean Designate, and Director, National University Centre for Oral Health, Singapore in early 2016. He will be succeeding Associate Professor Grace Ong, who has been Dean since 2010.
Prof Allen is currently the Professor of Prosthodontics and Oral Rehabilitation, University College, Cork, Ireland, a position he has held since 2008. He holds concurrent appointments as Consultant in Oral Rehabilitation and Restorative Dentistry, and Head of Unit of Restorative Dentistry with Cork Dental School and Hospital.
As Dean Designate, Prof Allen will provide the academic and administrative leadership to FoD and help shape its vision, implementing long-term programmes and policies while upholding the quality of the academic programmes.
As Director of the Centre, he will develop and execute the vision and strategic goals, and drive the implementation of initiatives that will enable the national specialty centre to excel in integrated and collaborative clinical care, medical education and research as well as serve the needs of an ageing population.
Looking forward to training a new generation of dentists and improving oral health across Singapore, Prof Allen said, "It is obvious to me that Singapore recognises the importance of good oral health to the quality of life of its population. The best way to achieve this is via an integrated academic health centre, and I think there is a real opportunity to integrate oral healthcare into mainstream health in Singapore...I want to inspire a new way of thinking in oral healthcare, whereby the training of our dentists is influenced by our research activity and, we then provide prevention-focused healthcare to our population. This is especially important as we face the challenges posed by an ageing population affected by chronic health issues.
A former Dean of Dentistry/Head of Cork Dental School and Hospital, Prof Allen's areas of interest include geriatric oral research, quality of life research, oral rehabilitation and health services research. He has also held visiting positions for research purposes in Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand. He has been accorded a number of awards in the recent years, including the Distinguished Scientist Award for Geriatric Oral Research by the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) in 2011, the IADR Aubrey Sheiham Award for Distinguished Research in Dental Public Health Science in 2011, and the IADR Unilever Social Entrepreneur Approach to Change Oral Health Behaviour Research Award in 2014.
Professor Jonathan D Rigg will assume the position of Director, ARI from 1 January 2016. Hailing from UK's Durham University, Prof Rigg joined the Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) in 2013. He is currently the Raffles Professor in Social Sciences and Deputy Chair of the FASS Faculty Promotion and Tenure Committee.
A well-known development geographer, Prof Rigg has been working on issues of transformation in rural Asia over the last 30 years. His research interests lie in agrarian change and transformation, risk and resilience, migration and mobility, and livelihoods and making a living.
"I am delighted ' and daunted ' by the prospect of taking on the Directorship of ARI. Under the leaderships of Professors Tony Reid, Lily Kong and Prasenjit Duara ARI has become, in just 14 years, a renowned centre for research on Asia. Scholars of the region from across the world increasingly find it necessary to beat a path to ARI's doors to take advantage of its invigorating intellectual environment. I relish this opportunity to work with the scholars and staff of the Institute and help further to cement its reputation, said Prof Rigg.
Prof Rigg is a prolific author of books, chapters in edited volumes and journal articles. His latest book, Challenging Southeast Asian development: The shadows of success, has been recently published by Routledge. Prof Rigg also contributes actively to editorial and advisory boards, and is currently a member of the editorial/advisory boards of several journals including the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, TRaNS: Trans-Regional and National Studies of Southeast Asia, the Journal of Peasant Studies, Geography Compass, East Asia: An International Quarterly, South East Asia Research, and the European Journal of East Asian Studies.
