Prominent behavioural scientist Ho Teck Hua to head NUS research
Current head, acclaimed biochemist Barry Halliwell, to be senior advisor to NUS President
The National University of Singapore (NUS) today announced that Professor Ho Teck Hua, an award-winning Singaporean behavioural scientist and chaired professor from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, will succeed Professor Barry Halliwell as Deputy President (Research and Technology) from 1 June 2015. Prof Halliwell, a renowned biochemist who wrote the global authoritative text on free radicals in biology and medicine, will become Senior Advisor to the President at the University, and continue to run his top-ranked research laboratory as well as several existing and new research programmes.
Said NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, "We are pleased and truly fortunate to have Professor Ho Teck Hua return to NUS and Singapore to succeed Professor Barry Halliwell as Deputy President (Research and Technology) from June 2015. Teck Hua began his academic career at NUS in 1988, and went on to achieve stellar success in the behavioural, economic, and management sciences, winning multiple accolades for his teaching and research.
Like Barry, Teck Hua is a world-class researcher who sets very high standards for research, and is passionate about how it can improve the lives of Singaporeans and the communities around us. In his capacity as NUS Vice President (Research Strategy) over the past two years, Teck Hua has already made many impressive and important contributions to the quality, impact and application of NUS ' research. I am confident that his leadership will help bring NUS ' research and its translation to the next level of excellence."
Prof Ho, a prominent behavioural scientist who is on a part-time appointment as Vice President (Research Strategy) at NUS and Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor, said, "NUS today is widely respected as one of the top research-intensive universities in the world. I am thrilled to have worked with Professor Barry Halliwell as part of his leadership team, and to now have the opportunity to build on what he has done at NUS. Excellent research creates knowledge and transforms lives - I hope to work with fellow researchers at NUS to continue producing excellent and high impact research."
Prof Ho is the William Halford Jr Family Professor of Marketing, and was the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Chair of the Marketing Group at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He has been the Director of the Asia Business Center at the Haas School since 2007.
Prof Ho is also the first Singaporean to be Editor-in-Chief of the venerable US-based publication Management Science, the flagship journal of The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), and one of the world 's top journals that publishes scientific research relating to all areas of management.
Prof Ho's research interests are in the areas of behavioural economics, management science, and marketing. His most notable work includes an alternative to the Nash Equilibrium (the central solution concept in economics); this alternative accounts for what researchers in the field call "irrational" human behaviour and models realistic market situations more accurately. He is also known for developing one of the leading mathematical models of learning in strategic situations.
An award-winning academic and researcher, Prof Ho was recently awarded a grant from Singapore 's National Research Foundation under its Returning Singaporean Scientists Scheme for a proposal to solve societal challenges using big data-driven decision sciences.
He received the Williamson Award, the Haas School 's highest faculty award, in February 2015. The award, which is named in honour of Oliver Williamson, the 2009 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, celebrates honorees who best reflect the character and integrity associated with Williamson 's scholarly work and legacy.
Prof Ho, who also holds the concurrent appointment of Director of the Global Asia Institute at NUS, will be Deputy President (Research and Technology) Designate at NUS with immediate effect. He will relinquish his tenured appointment at UC Berkeley when he becomes Deputy President (Research and Technology) at NUS on 1 June 2015. Prof Barry Halliwell will take on the appointment of Senior Advisor to NUS President on the same date.
NUS President Prof Tan Chorh Chuan paid tribute to Prof Halliwell and his transformative leadership of NUS research. He said that Prof Halliwell, who first joined the University on a visiting appointment in 1998, has played a truly pivotal role in driving NUS ' research excellence and global reputation as a top research-intensive university.
"Prof Barry Halliwell is a world-leading scientist with a fine nose for talent and an unwavering commitment to excellence in research. During his tenure as the founding Deputy President (Research and Technology), Barry established a clear and compelling research strategy for NUS and implemented it with great effectiveness. He also made very important contributions to the recruitment and nurturing of top faculty and researchers. The results have been remarkable.
The quanta of competitive research grants secured by the University between 2007 and 2014 more than doubled, and is expected to be over $600 million in FY2014. Barry was instrumental in NUS' successful bids for three Research Centres of Excellence, as well as the new Centre for Advanced 2D Materials. Under his leadership, the quality and impact of NUS ' research has risen very steeply. In addition, working closely with NUS Enterprise, Barry has led the way in research collaborations with industry and in sharply raising the translational impact of NUS research. Another notable achievement is the founding of the NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, which pioneered new models of multidisciplinary research education and helped blaze the trail in enhancing the quality of NUS graduate education.
Today, NUS is globally respected as a research power-house. We are deeply grateful for Barry 's transformative leadership and passion in NUS research, and look forward to his continued contributions as Senior Advisor, and eminent scientist. In this connection, Barry will continue to assist me, and the new Deputy President (Research and Technology), in several ways, including overseeing a number of key research programmes at NUS, notably the ageing and neurobiology research initiative, Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore and, the Marine & Offshore Research – Industry partnership initiative," said Prof Tan.
Prof Halliwell has been Deputy President (Research and Technology) at NUS since March 2006. During his tenure, the University made strategic investments in competitive programmes that helped raise the profile of NUS research. These programmes are in areas that include water research, nanoscience and nanotechnology, ageing, humanities and social sciences, lipidomics, drug development, climate science, neurobiology, synthetic biology, bioimaging, antibody technologies, and immunology, among others.
An internationally-acclaimed biochemist who remains highly active in research, Prof Halliwell has been identified as one of the top 400 biomedical research scientists globally, and has a Hirsch Index of 141. He is known especially for his seminal work on the role of free radicals and antioxidants in biological systems.
Prof Halliwell 's research focuses on the role of free radicals and antioxidants in human disease, particularly Alzheimer 's disease and other brain disorders such as stroke, and the ageing process. His interest in identifying the most important antioxidants in the human diet and in developing novel antioxidants has critical bearing on treating human diseases and understanding how diet might cause or prevent them. Prof Halliwell's research laboratory at NUS - ranked number one worldwide by highest citation score in Free Radical Research - is pursuing research in optimal nutrition in Asians, and how diet and lifestyle can prevent the onset of dementia.
Prof Halliwell received the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2010 from the President of Singapore for contributions to Singapore, as well as the President 's Science and Technology Medal 2013 from the President of Singapore "for distinguished sustained and exceptional contributions to Singapore 's Science and Engineering landscape". He has also received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine in the US in 2008 for overall sustained excellence in the field, and the Ken Bowman Research Award in 2011 for outstanding achievements in the field of cardiovascular research from the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences in Canada.
Said Prof Halliwell, "It has been a distinct privilege to build a world-class research community at NUS. The University has always been known for the rigour of its education; today, NUS is renowned around the world for its excellent research strengths, and its stellar research community. It has been an incredibly rewarding journey - I would like to thank my colleagues and friends at NUS for their unstinting support and hard work.
I am confident that Professor Ho Teck Hua will bring his interdisciplinary strengths and perspectives to research at NUS. I look forward very much to working with Teck Hua in his new role, and having more time for my research and my lab."
Both Prof Halliwell and Prof Ho hold prestigious Tan Chin Tuan Centennial professorships at NUS.
Annex – Brief Biographies of Prof Ho Teck Hua and Prof Barry Halliwell.
