The Chancellery

General Information

The President of the Republic of Singapore is the Chancellor of the University. The Chancellor holds the authority to confer degrees and presides at Commencement when present. The Chancellor may appoint such persons to be Pro-Chancellors as s/he may consider proper. If for any reason the Chancellor is unable to exercise any of his functions, s/he may authorise any of the Pro-Chancellors to exercise those functions on his behalf. There are currently five Pro-Chancellors appointed by the Chancellor.

The Chancellor

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Tharman Shanmugaratnam was elected as Singapore’s Ninth President in September 2023.

He served in politics for 22 years before resigning to contest in the Presidential Election. He had been Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister for several years, and Education Minister earlier. He last served in government as Senior Minister. He also served as Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, from 2011 to 2023.

Tharman has been committed through his years to building a more inclusive society, as the basis for Singapore’s continuing economic resilience. He was especially engaged in efforts to sustain social mobility, improve jobs and retirement security for lower-income workers, and make life-long learning a reality for all. He has also sought to deepen and advance Singapore’s model of multiculturalism.

He set in motion major educational reforms while serving as Education Minister over 2003–2008, aimed at achieving a broader and more flexible system of meritocracy. He also chaired the Economic Strategies Committee in 2009–2010 and subsequent tripartite councils which drove the national transition to productivity-driven growths, including through the implementation of industry-specific transformation programmes. He later led the national ‘SkillsFuture’ movement, launched in 2014. He also chaired the National Jobs Council aimed at rebuilding jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Tharman chaired the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute for over two decades, and the International Academic Advisory Panel which advises the government on strategies for university education from 2011 to 2023.

Internationally, Tharman has led several high-level councils focused on global financial reforms, job creation, preparedness for future pandemics, and global water sustainability. He currently chairs the board of the Group of Thirty, an independent global council of economic and financial leaders from the public and private sectors and academia. He also co-chairs the High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs, established by the World Bank Group in July 2024. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF), an advisory board that helps shape the strategic directions of the WEF.

Tharman led the IMF’s key policy forum, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, from 2011 to 2014, and was its first Asian chair. He also chaired the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance in 2017–2018, and co-chaired the G20 High-Level Panel on financing pandemic preparedness and response in 2021. He recently co-chaired the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, which released its report in October 2024. He also co-chaired the Advisory Board for four successive editions of the UN’s Human Development Report, over 2018–2022.

In 2025, Tharman was awarded the Miriam Pozen Prize by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Golub Center for Finance and Policy, in recognition of his leadership in international financial policy.

Earlier, the Institute of International Finance awarded him its inaugural Distinguished Leadership and Service Award in 2019. He was also conferred an Honorary Fellowship by the London School of Economics in 2011.

Following his schooling in Singapore, Tharman did a B.Sc. in Economics at the London School of Economics and an M.Phil. in Economics at the University of Cambridge. He later obtained a Master’s in Public Administration at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he was conferred the Lucius N Littauer Fellow award for outstanding performance and leadership potential.

Tharman is married to Ms Jane Ittogi, a lawyer by background and actively engaged in social development and sustainability initiatives. They have a daughter and three sons.

Pro-Chancellors

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Mr Gautam Banerjee

Mr Gautam Banerjee was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2019.

Mr Gautam Banerjee currently serves as Chairman of Blackstone Singapore.

Mr Banerjee was the Executive Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Singapore for 9 years until his retirement on 31 December 2012. He was also the Chief Operating Officer for PwC Eastern Cluster, which includes China, Australia, Japan, Korea and South East Asia and a member of the global firm’s Strategy Council. Mr Banerjee was elected Executive Chairman of PwC Singapore in 2004, and served as the interim Chairman of PwC India in 2009/2010.

Mr Banerjee joined PwC Singapore in April 1982 after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in London and was admitted to the partnership in July 1989. He has led various business units in the firm, including its largest business unit, the Assurance practice.

Mr Banerjee is a Term Trustee of Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) and a member of the ISAS Management Board. He has also served on the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise Ltd, Defence Science & Technology Agency, Corporate Governance Council of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Companies Act Reform Steering Committee.

Currently, he serves on the Boards of Singapore Telecommunications Limited, GIC Private Limited, DBS Group Holdings Limited and DBS Bank Limited.

Mr Banerjee was a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore from 2007 to 2009. He served as a member of the Economic Strategies Committee chaired by the Finance Minister of Singapore from 2009/2010. He was awarded the Public Service Medal by the Singapore Government in 2014 and was subsequently conferred the Public Service Star in 2025.

Mr Banerjee is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Singapore. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Accounting and Financial Analysis from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the same university in 2014.

Mrs Theresa Foo

Mrs Theresa Foo was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2019.

Mrs Theresa Foo was the Founding Chairman of Singapore Business Federation Foundation where she worked closely with the business community to build an inclusive Singapore by encouraging, enabling and enhancing the contributions of business to the social, vocational and educational upliftment of Singaporeans in need of assistance.

Mrs Foo was also the founding Chairman of Gardens by The Bay where she was instrumental in establishing a high standard of Corporate Governance to ensure that, as a registered charity, the Gardens is run and managed soundly and judiciously.

Mrs Foo is a retired banker by profession, having had an illustrious banking career spanning over 40 years in the banking industry. She was Bank of America’s first female Vice President in Asia and later became the first female Chief Executive appointed by Standard Chartered in 1993. She was nominated as one of Euromoney’s Top 50 Women in Finance in 1997.

Concurrent to her banking career, Mrs Foo has been deeply involved with the Arts and Heritage in Singapore. She is the immediate past Chairman of Esplanade Co Ltd where she helped with the building and growth of the national arts venue for 17 years. For her dedication to the arts and heritage in Singapore, she was named Champion of the Arts in 2001 and presented with the Friends of MCCY Award by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth in 2015. She was also recognised for her contributions to the Singapore community when she received the Public Service Star Medal in 2008 and the Meritorious Service Medal in 2014.

Mrs Foo graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Dr Noeleen Heyzer

Dr. Noeleen Heyzer was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2026.

Dr. Noeleen Heyzer is a social scientist and the first woman in ASEAN to be appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General — the highest-ranking Singaporean in the UN system during her tenure (2007–2015).

She was the first woman to serve as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) since its founding in 1947. Responding to the climate and 2008 financial crises, she focused on identifying new drivers of sustainable and inclusive development. Major milestones included advancing regional connectivity and coordinated responses to shared vulnerabilities. These efforts resulted in intergovernmental agreements on regional transport and logistics, inclusive socio-economic policies, disaster preparedness, paperless trade, and financing and technology for an inclusive and green future.

Prior to her role at ESCAP, Dr. Heyzer was the first Executive Director from outside North America to lead the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) from 1994 to 2007. Her leadership brought about significant changes in multilateral norms and development practice. She played a pivotal role in the Security Council’s adoption and implementation of the landmark Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, as well as initiated the reform of the UN gender architecture leading to the establishment of UN Women.

Dr. Heyzer served under four UN Secretaries-General and was the UNSG’s Special Adviser for Timor-Leste (2013–2015). She later served as a member of the UNSG’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation (2017–2021) and as the UNSG’s Special Envoy on Myanmar (2021–2023).

A founding member of several international women’s networks, Dr. Heyzer has served on numerous boards and advisory committees of international organizations, including the UNDP Human Development Report, the Asian Development Bank’s Eminent Persons Group, the Board of Trustees of the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the Governing Board of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (NUS). She also served on the Kofi Annan Global Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age; the Commonwealth High Level Commission on Respect and Understanding; the Asia Global Institute advisory board; and the jury for the U.S. Secretary of State’s 2010 Innovation Award for Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment.

Dr. Noeleen Heyzer holds a Bachelor of Arts (Upper Hons.) and a Master of Science from the University of Singapore, and Doctorate in Social Sciences from Cambridge University, United Kingdom. In recognition of her contribution to women, peace and justice, Dr. Heyzer was among the women nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

LOCAL AWARDS

Honorary Doctor of Letters, National University of Singapore (2025)
Meritorious Service Medal, Singapore National Day Awards (2025)
Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (2014)
Eminent Alumni Award, National University of Singapore (2011)

FOREIGN AWARDS

Honorary Professor, Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists Association, Astana Economic Forum, Kazakhstan (2011)
Honorary Doctorate, University of Ulan Bator, Mongolia (2011)
Order of the Polar Star, Mongolia (2011)
Dag Hammarskjöld Medal, Uppsala, Sweden (2004)

Professor S Jayakumar

Professor S Jayakumar was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2020.

Born in 1939, Professor S. Jayakumar was a Cabinet minister in Singapore for three decades (1981 – 2011), serving under three Singapore prime ministers, Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Loong. His portfolios included Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Law and Labour. He was also Coordinating Minister for National Security. He rose to become Deputy Prime Minister (2004) and Senior Minister (2009). He retired from politics in 2011. Before entering politics, he taught Law at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS), and was Dean of the Faculty (1974 – 1979). He also served as Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1971 – 1974).

Currently, he is Senior Legal Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is also Emeritus Professor and Pro-Chancellor of NUS.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

LOCAL AWARDS

The Order of Temasek (with High Distinction), awarded by the Singapore Government (2020)
The Public Service Star awarded by the Singapore Government (1980)
Outstanding Service Award, conferred by the National University of Singapore (2014)
Honorary Member for Life and Fellow for Life, conferred by Singapore Academy of Law (2008)
Honorary Member, conferred by the Law Society of Singapore (2007)

FOREIGN AWARDS

The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, awarded by the Government of Japan (2011)
The Grand Cross of the Order of Bernardo O’Higgins by Chilean Government (1997)
The Prathamabhron (Knight Grand Cross) of the Most Exalted Order of The White Elephant Award by Kingdom of Thailand (1994)

Mr Po’ad Bin Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar

Mr Po’ad Bin Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2012.

Mr Po’ad Bin Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Singapore and holds a Master in Management from the Asian Institute of Management (Makati, Philippines). He is also a Chartered Accountant registered with the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.

Mr Po’ad Mattar had served as a director of several listed and non-listed companies, including MediaCorp TV Singapore Private Limited (formerly Television Corporation of Singapore), member of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Council, member of the Public Utilities Board and director of its wholly-owned subsidiary, PUB Consultants Private Limited, member of the Council of Presidential Advisers and member of the Public Service Commission. He has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (PJG), the Public Service Star (BBM), the Public Service Medal (PBM) and MUIS Distinguished Service Award.

Mr Teo Siong Seng

Mr Teo Siong Seng was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2019.

Mr Teo Siong Seng (S.S. Teo) is the Executive Chairman of Pacific International Lines (PIL), a Singapore-incorporated company founded in 1967. PIL is the largest home-grown container shipping line in Southeast Asia and is ranked among the top 12 container carriers globally. He also serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PIL’s Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, Singamas Container Holdings Limited, a leading container manufacturer and logistics services provider.

Mr Teo is currently the Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), where he leads efforts to enhance the global competitiveness of Singapore’s business community for a sustainable and future-ready economy.

In addition, Mr Teo holds several key appointments, including Chairman of the Singapore ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC); Board Member of Enterprise Singapore; Honorary President of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Honorary Consul of the United Republic of Tanzania in Singapore; Joint Chairman of the Africa Southeast Asia Chamber of Commerce & Industry; and Pro-Chancellor of the National University of Singapore.

Mr Teo previously served as a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore from 2009 to 2014, representing the business sector and the Chinese community.