Eight individuals honoured at NUS University Awards for exceptional contributions to education, research and service to Singapore
Ambassador Gopinath Pillai and real estate investment veteran Dr Seek Ngee Huat conferred top NUS accolades
The National University of Singapore (NUS) today honoured the achievements of eight exceptional educators, researchers and professionals with its highest accolades at the 2015 NUS University Awards. The annual Awards recognise individuals who have contributed to the University's mission through their exceptional achievements in education, research, and service to Singapore and the global community.
Said NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, "We are immensely proud to honour our 2015 University Award recipients. The passion, creativity and spirit of service of these outstanding individuals have opened exciting new vistas, and will inspire the NUS community to aim higher and go further. In so doing, they uphold the NUS ' tradition of creating impact and improving the community, and give further impetus to our continuing drive to be a leading global university, centred in Asia. My heartiest congratulations to all our award recipients."
This year's award categories include the Outstanding Service Award, Outstanding Educator Award, Outstanding Researcher Award and Young Researcher Award.
Outstanding Service Award
NUS presented the Outstanding Service Award to two recipients in recognition of their exceptional contributions towards the development of the University, Singapore and globally: Ambassador Gopinath Pillai, Ambassador-at-Large and Special Envoy to Andhra Pradesh, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chairman, Institute of South Asian Studies at NUS; and Dr Seek Ngee Huat, Chairman, Institute of Real Estate Studies at NUS, and Chairman of Global Logistic Properties.
Ambassador Gopinath Pillai
Ambassador Gopinath Pillai has contributed significantly to Singapore through his service as a diplomat for more than 25 years – he was Singapore 's longest serving Non-Resident Ambassador to Iran and later served as Singapore 's High Commissioner to Pakistan. He is currently Ambassador-at-Large and Singapore 's special envoy to the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.
His past and continued involvement in a number of organisations, including NTUC FairPrice Co-operative Limited, Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital, Hindu Advisory Board, Indian Heritage Centre and the National University of Singapore Society, has impacted the social development of Singapore.
Ambassador Pillai has also played a leading role in fostering Singapore-India relations both as an investor in India as well as by building up deep knowledge on India through his role as the founding Chairman of the Institute of South Asian Studies which benefits the business community, academia, government agencies and any other interested Singaporeans.
Dr Seek Ngee Huat
Dr Seek Ngee Huat is a highly regarded and influential expert in real estate investment with more than 30 years of experience in real estate around the world.
He headed the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) Real Estate Private Limited as its President for 15 years, turning it into one of the world 's leading sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors in real estate with assets in over 30 countries. He was also the Advisor, Chairman and Board Director to the GIC Group Executive Committee, GIC Latin America Business Group and GIC Real Estate, respectively.
Dr Seek is also a prominent thought leader and keynote speaker for numerous leading international forums, including the Cambridge University Land Society 's Annual Alastair Ross Goobey Lecture and the NUS Institute of Real Estate Studies-Urban Land Institute Forum. Among his sterling achievements, Dr Seek had pioneered and established real estate research as an integral service provided by leading consulting firms in Asia-Pacific when he was a partner at Jones Lang LaSalle in Sydney.
Dr Seek has been serving as the Chairman of the Institute of Real Estate Studies at the NUS since 2009, and he is also an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate in the School of Design and Environment at NUS.
Other Award Recipients
The NUS University Awards 2015 also recognised the accomplishments of six other outstanding educators and researchers from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, School of Computing, Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Science.
Please refer to the Annex 1 for the full list of award recipients, and Annex 2 for the citations.
