25
April
2018
|
15:30
Asia/Singapore

New Deans for LKY School and Medicine

Prof Quah (right) will become the 2nd Dean of LKY School from 1 May 2018 while Assoc Prof Chong will be new Dean of NUS Medicine from 1 January 2019

The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) will each welcome a new Dean.

Current Acting Dean and Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) of LKY School and Li Ka Shing Professor in Economics Danny Quah has been appointed 2nd Dean of the School from 1 May 2018, while top fetal growth and early development clinician-researcher and current Vice Dean (Academic Medicine) at NUS Medicine Associate Professor Chong Yap Seng will lead the medical school as its 17th Dean from 1 January 2019. 

Prof Quah is an eminent scholar in economics and international relations with a strong global profile and a range of highly-cited publications. His current work takes an economic approach to global power shifts and the rise of the East, and alternative models of global power relations. 

Prof Quah previously held academic appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Economics and the London School of Economics and Political Science, and was visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Harvard University, Nanyang Technological University, and NUS. He was also a Council Member on Malaysia’s National Economic Advisory Council and a consultant to the Bank of England, World Bank and Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who is Chairman of the LKY School Governing Board, said, “The Governing Board and I fully support the appointment of Prof Danny Quah as the new Dean of the LKY School. Danny is an outstanding scholar and leader, someone who understands the significance of this prestigious school and its talented community of scholars, students and alumni. We look forward to working with Danny and his leadership team to further strengthen the impact of the LKY School in Singapore and beyond.”

On his new appointment Prof Quah said, “As Asia continues to grow, the weight of evidence is that the world today stands at a critical point in the evolution of global order. Now more than ever global policymaking needs good credible ideas. Singapore's ongoing developmental experience, not least in governance, public policy innovation and leadership, allows our School unique comparative advantage in research, teaching and learning, and outreach on those challenges. It is an honour indeed to be able to build on these strengths and advance the School’s mission in helping to continue to transform Asia.”

Assoc Prof Chong is well-known among both the international and local medical and academic community. He has received numerous awards in teaching, research and clinical service, including the Singapore Ministry of Health’s National Outstanding Clinician Scientist Award in 2017, and more than $100 million in research grant funding to date.

Assoc Prof Chong is currently a Senior Consultant in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the National University Hospital and Executive Director of the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. He is also Lead Principal Investigator of the National Medical Research Council’s Metabolic Translational and Clinical Research Flagship Programme, as well as the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes study, Singapore’s largest and most comprehensive birth cohort research effort.

“I am deeply honoured to be given the privilege of leading Singapore’s oldest and biggest medical school. Like the majority of doctors in Singapore, I am an alumnus myself and am aware of the central role the School plays in healthcare. Building on the work of my illustrious predecessors, I will do my best to ensure that the School continues improving the health and lives of Singaporeans through excellence in education, research and innovation, and a full-hearted commitment to service,” said Assoc Prof Chong.

NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said that the University is delighted with the new appointments. 

“In Danny, we have found a leader who has the vision, stature and drive that will propel Asia’s top public policy school to the next level. He is internationally respected for his work, appreciates the importance of the School in Asia and the world, and is also popular with his colleagues, students and alumni for his warmth. We are excited by what Danny will bring to the LKY School as its new Dean.

“Yap Seng is an outstanding and multiple award-winning clinician-researcher, educator and administrator, and a homegrown talent. He has a clear vision and strategy for further deepening the impact of the region’s leading medical school. Yap Seng deeply appreciates the significant role our medical school has played in the island’s healthcare landscape since 1905, and its mission of nurturing future generations of doctors and nurses for the nation. We entrust NUS Medicine to Yap Seng with great confidence.” 

Prof Tan also expressed his heartfelt appreciation to Founding Dean of LKY School Professor Kishore Mahbubani for his tireless efforts and achievements in raising the profile of the School, and 16th Dean of NUS Medicine Associate Professor Yeoh Khay Guan for his stellar leadership of the medical school.