Speech by Professor Shih Choon Fong*
President,
National University of Singapore
9th Annual Dinner of the MIT Club of Saudi Arabia
2 March 2008, Riyadh
Intelligent Organization: Navigating Three Principles
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Opening
Distinguished guests, colleagues and friends, good evening.
It is my immense privilege and pleasure to speak at this annual dinner of the MIT Club of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Surrounded by so many MIT graduates, I’m reminded of an old joke.
In a Cambridge supermarket, a young man rolls his shopping cart full of items to the express checkout lane.
The cashier looks and says: "You must be from Harvard or MIT."
The young man proudly declares: "From Harvard, how did you know?"
Pointing to the "6 items or less" sign, the cashier says: "You must be from one or the other because Harvard students can't count and MIT students can't read."
I’m delighted to be here in Saudi again. I’ve come to your country several times – I can’t count how many. After all, I am a Harvard grad.
Rivalry aside, let me speak of hospitality. With each visit, I have experienced the Saudi warmth and hospitality. As my experience and appreciation grows for the land and people of Saudi Arabia, I have begun to feel quite at home. Lily, my wife, came with me last November. We were struck by the incredible beauty of the coast of the Red Sea as well as the developing KAUST campus.
In January, we came here again. The high point of this visit was meeting His Majesty King Abdullah. It was a great honor to see and hear him speak personally about his vision for KAUST, and his wish for KAUST to be a beacon of knowledge and a bridge between people and cultures, to bring benefits to the Kingdom and beyond.
This evening, I’d like to share my personal reflections as a scientist, engineer and university President. I will begin with the underpinnings of science and technology, outline three principles relating to organizations and apply them to the "science" of organizations. Finally, I will speak of some experiences at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where I am currently President.
| * President-Designate, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology |
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