Singapore Management University (SMU) gets 1st woman Provost to join as second in command

Add Review

MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
May 26, 2015
Search for a new provost started in July last year after its previous provost, Professor Rajendra Srivastava, indicated his intention to step down after seven years
"Prof Kong will help to enrich SMU`s social sciences and humanities offerings" Arnoud De Meyer, President SMU

Moving towards having greater gender diversity not only at the student and faculty level but also at the top management level, the 15 years old Singapore Management University (SMU) has appointed Professor Lily Kong as the first woman Provost of the University w e f September 2015.

Announcing the appointment on May 25, 2015 President of SMU Prof Arnoud  De Meyer said “Prof Kong will help to enrich SMU’s social sciences and humanities offerings”. According to Prof De Meyer the search for a new provost started in July last year after its previous provost, Professor Rajendra Srivastava, indicated his intention to step down after seven years. 20 international candidates were shortlisted for the important Provost role at SMU on the criteria of university management experience, international standing, familiarity with SMU disciplines and most importantly with Singapore.

Professor Lily Kong, aged 50 years, has been associated with National University of Singapore  (NUS), also one of the highly ranked Universities in the world, for the last 24 years. She will join SMU from September 2015 as second-in-command, the first one being university president Arnoud De Meyer. Prof Lily will also be holding the position of Lee Kong Chian Chair Professorship of Social Sciences.

Prof Kong is holding the position of vice-provost of academic personnel at NUS. Earlier she was head of NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Prof Lily played an important role in the setting up of the Yale-NUS Liberal Arts College.

SMU, Singapore is a public funded university and the appointment of first woman provost at SMU is being considered as a historical decision.

Prof Lily Kong will be in charge of all academics, research, teaching and education. She plans to introduce new majors and strengthen the ability of students to handle big data. Spreading the education further globally, Prof Lily also plans to explore the possibilities to foster more international collaborations between SMU and foreign universities especially the rising Asian universities in China and India. Prof Kong is of the view “A university today, particularly in Singapore, is worth its salt only if it also has a strong international reputation.” Her agenda is to make positive difference at SMU Singapore through the possibilities at the University.
About SMU

SMU: USPs

International students in SMU come from India, China, ASEAN countries as well as further afield such as Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East, Maldives, Japan and South Korea and bring with them the richness of diversity and cultural vibrancy at SMU. The learning environment at SMU is beyond geographical borders and introduces global perspectives. Smaller class sizes allow lively interaction and personalized attention from the faculties. Surrounded by museums, theatres, educational institutions, art galleries, cafés, restaurants and a range of retail outlets, the SMU life is a vibrant and diverse one.

SMU-Lee Kong Chian School of Business

Singapore Management University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business is a dynamic Asian business school with more than 100 full-time faculty and more than 2500 students. The B school is ranked amongst the top business schools of the world for its Finance and Accounting programs.

Great learning experience, high placement packages and entrepreneurship opportunities after completing MBA from SMU Singapore have been some of the key factors which attract MBA aspirants to join the B school at SMU consistently. Another important factor is the affordable fee and accommodation at Singapore in comparison to other countries like US, UK or Europe.

SMU has announced deadlines for the MBA classes starting in January 2016. Final round deadline to submit application for MBA at SMU Singapore is October 15, 2015.

To know more about admission criteria and updates on SMU MBA , post your queries on the discussion forum at MBAUniverse.com

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on SMU Singapore