Industry leader Professor Choo Chiau Beng appointed as Rector of NUS University Town's Residential College 4
Students studying and living at Residential College 4, opening in August 2015, to benefit from Prof Choo's rich industry experience
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Choo Chiau Beng as Rector of the latest residential college at NUS University Town (UTown). Associate Professor Lakshminarayanan Samavedham from the NUS Faculty of Engineering will take on the role of Master of Residential College 4 (RC4).
The College Rector and Master will provide strategic directions and help shape the academic tone of the residential college. RC4 will officially open its doors to its first intake in August 2015.
NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost, Professor Tan Eng Chye said, “NUS is pleased to have Prof Choo come on board as Rector of our latest residential college. Prof Choo's extensive career, knowledge and experience will prove invaluable to the College, and provide our students with the opportunity to learn and benefit from his leadership. We look forward to Prof Choo's guidance and contributions in shaping RC4 into a vibrant learning community.”
RC4 Rector and Master
The College Rector is a non-residential, non-executive head of the College. Among other responsibilities, the Rector will facilitate programmes and distinguished visitors for the College, and work with the College Master to build a sense of community and belonging among College residents and Fellows.
Prof Choo, Rector of RC4, is best known for his leadership at Keppel, which he steered and shaped into a world-class leader in offshore and marine industry in his 42 years there. Prof Choo was the Chief Executive Officer of Keppel Corporation from 2009 to 2013, and upon his retirement early this year, he was appointed Senior Advisor to the Board of Keppel Corporation. Prof Choo also sits on the Board of Keppel Care Foundation and KrisEnergy.
Prof Choo has also been contributing to NUS' development by serving as the Chairman of the Centre for Maritime Studies, a Board Member of Energy Studies Institute as well as a Management Board member of the Institute of Engineering Leadership at NUS Faculty of Engineering. He is also a Provost's Chair and Professor (Practice) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and the Department of Management and Organisation, NUS Business School.
Prof Choo said, “With the experience gained by the first three residential colleges, we hope to continue to improve the community living and learning experience for RC4. In the rapidly changing world brought about by the science and technology in a globalized world, students who reside in RC4 will have opportunity to interact with others from different faculties and disciplines to widen and deepen their knowledge and experience, and learn to be open and aware of the different world out there and be enriched with interacting with distinguished visitors from other fields.”
Assoc Prof Lakshminarayanan Samavedham from the NUS Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has been appointed as Master of RC4. He also concurrently serves as the Director of the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning at NUS, where he designs and implements professional development programmes for faculty members, teaching assistants and graduate students.
Assoc Prof Lakshminarayanan said, “I am honoured to be part of this exciting endeavour to create a transformative education experience for our students. I hope that RC4 will become a diverse and collaborative learning community, where our students can interact and engage with their peers and faculty, and where they can grow intellectually and personally.”
Understanding and solving problems through Systems Thinking
RC4 is the latest residential college at UTown following the first three residential colleges – Cinnamon College, Tembusu College, and College of Alice & Peter Tan. NUS also launched Ridge View Residential College in August 2014, its first residential college outside UTown.
In the lead up to RC4's opening in August 2015, Assoc Prof Lakshminarayanan and his team will be focusing on designing an academic programme that will help its students look beyond the bounds of their own discipline and stretch them intellectually.
The curriculum offered at RC4 will be anchored by the theme of Systems Thinking, which will lay a strong foundation in critical and creative problem solving in its students. Systems thinking will serve as a vehicle for RC4 students to analyse and appreciate complex issues from multiple domains such as health, energy, environment, ecology and society. Through learning and doing, RC4 students will emerge as “systems citizens” with a better understanding of how multiple phenomena interact in terms of time, space, people, materials, energy and cost.
“As problems become more complex, we need to ensure our students are equipped to approach issues based on a holistic understanding. Our hope is for our students to apply the Systems Thinking approach and serve as effective change agents in facing the grand challenges of the 21st century,” said Assoc Prof Lakshminarayanan.
The NUS UTown is an innovative model that integrates campus living with an exciting multidisciplinary academic programme to enable students to gain a richer, more multi-dimensional intellectual and personal development. The UTown residential colleges knit together academic, intellectual, social, athletic and artistic life through small classes and a highly interactive and engaging mix of activities, both within and beyond classrooms.
Please refer to the Annex for brief biographies of Prof Choo Chiau Beng and Assoc Prof Lakshminarayanan Samavedham.
