Professor S Jayakumar appointed as NUS Pro-Chancellor
Prof S Jayakumar has made many contributions in the fields of academia and public service
Professor S Jayakumar, Singapore’s former Deputy Prime Minister, has been appointed Pro-Chancellor of NUS. The appointment was made by NUS Chancellor and Singapore President Madam Halimah Yacob, and is effective from 1 July 2020 for a term of three years.
Prof Jayakumar’s illustrious career spans decades. He was Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and High Commissioner to Canada from 1971 to 1974. From 1980, he held many portfolios including Minister for Law, Home Affairs, Labour, and Foreign Affairs, as well as Deputy Prime Minister, Senior Minister, and Coordinating Minister for National Security, until retiring from politics in 2011. He is now Senior Legal Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Prof Jayakumar’s relationship with NUS has been equally longstanding. Graduating top of his cohort at NUS Law in 1963, he joined the Faculty as a lecturer in 1964, and was Dean from 1974 to 1980. Prof Jayakumar returned to NUS Law in October 2011. As former Chair of the NUS Law Advisory Council, he helped to enhance the Faculty’s legal education and research. He is also Chair of the International Advisory Panel of the NUS Centre for International Law.
In recognition of his contributions to academia, public service and the international community, Prof Jayakumar received the University’s Eminent Alumni Award in 2009 and the Outstanding Service Award in 2014.
“It is our privilege and honour to have Professor S Jayakumar as our Pro-Chancellor,” said NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye.
“Prof Jayakumar is a leading light to many in our community – his distinguished career in public service contributed to the growth and development of Singapore, as well as the advancement of legal education and the legal profession. We look forward to his contributions in NUS Chancellery matters.”
Professor Simon Chesterman, Dean of NUS Law, said, “Professor S Jayakumar is one of the great practitioner-scholars of his generation. He has committed most of his life to public service, holding key portfolios in Government and representing Singapore at key institutions. At the same time, he has remained deeply engaged in academia, and his many books also ensure that his experience and his wisdom can reach future generations of students.”
Prof Jayakumar joins Mr Po’ad Mattar, Dr Chan Sek Keong, Mrs Theresa Foo, Mr Gautam Banerjee, and Mr Teo Siong Seng as the University’s Pro-Chancellors.
Prof Jayakumar said, “I am deeply honoured by this appointment as Pro-Chancellor of NUS, as that is where I first began my law studies and where I had my first job. I look forward to working closely with Chancellor, President Halimah Yacob, and my fellow Pro-Chancellors.”
See press release.
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