Leading spintronics expert and NUS alumnus Prof Teo Kie Leong named new Dean of NUS College of Design and Engineering

The National University of Singapore (NUS) appoints Professor Teo Kie Leong, a leading expert in the field of spintronics and experienced academic administrator, as the second Dean of its College of Design and Engineering (CDE). An NUS alumnus, Prof Teo currently serves as the Acting Dean as well as Deputy Dean (Academic Affairs and Education) of the College, and he will assume the new leadership appointment on 1 April 2024.

NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said, “We are delighted to appoint Professor Teo Kie Leong to lead the NUS College of Design and Engineering as its new Dean, after a rigorous search for the best candidate locally and internationally. Prof Teo has a distinguished record of scholarly achievements and a strong reputation within the academic community in Singapore and beyond. The College will benefit greatly from Prof Teo’s extensive experience in driving transformative initiatives in education, research and enterprise. I am confident that Prof Teo’s leadership will fortify the College’s strategic vision and elevate it to new heights both locally and on the international stage.”

Prof Teo joined NUS in 1999 as a faculty member of its Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the then-Faculty of Engineering. He subsequently served as the Faculty’s Vice Dean, Research & Technology (2011 to 2019) and Deputy Dean (2019 to 2021). In his role as Vice Dean, Prof Teo oversaw an average of S$135 million annually in competitive research grants and charted the Faculty’s strategic research directions. He played a central role in fostering interdisciplinary research collaborations within and across faculties, as well as with industry and other institutions, enhancing the Faculty's international profile in research. As Deputy Dean, he was primarily responsible for academic programme planning and development, as well as top talent management. Prof Teo was instrumental in the expansion of Continuous Education and Training programmes and transitioning the Faculty’s Master’s programmes to be self-funded.

Prof Teo has remained a strong pillar of the Faculty in the years leading to its merger with the NUS School of Design and Environment in 2022 to form CDE. During and after the transition, Prof Teo played a key role in integrating the best of engineering and design education, offering students distinctive specialisations and interdisciplinary training experiences to equip them with valuable skill sets and competencies to thrive in a fast-changing working environment.

In his capacity as Acting Dean at CDE and throughout his tenure as Deputy Dean and Vice Dean at NUS’ Faculty of Engineering, Prof Teo has played a leading role in driving educational excellence, fostering innovation, and facilitating collaboration.

As a member of the College’s leadership team, Prof Teo has a keen sense of the opportunities and challenges that the College faces, and he is well respected within and beyond the College.

A home-grown talent, Prof Teo is known for his expertise in nano-magnetics and semiconductor devices. His research group actively conducts material and device research into spintronics. At the national level, he has served on the research review committees of the National Research Foundation and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. In addition, he has also served on many research or technical review panels, and conference organisation committees. In 2019, Prof Teo received the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) under the National Day Award.

Prof Teo said, “I am deeply honoured and excited to serve as the next Dean of the NUS College of Design and Engineering. It has been two years since CDE was established, and while we are taking bold and remarkable strides forward, the College is very much a dynamic work-in-progress, constantly evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of our society and solve real-world challenges. I am committed to working closely with our highly talented colleagues and students at CDE to foster an environment where innovation thrives, curiosity is nurtured, and every faculty, staff and student has the opportunity to reach their full potential and make an impact in Singapore and the world."

Please refer to the Annexe for the brief biography of Prof Teo Kie Leong.