[18 January 2010]
SMU appoints Arnoud De Meyer as new President
Director of Cambridge's Judge Business School, founding dean of INSEAD Singapore campus joins SMU as its fourth President, succeeding Professor Howard Hunter in September 2010.
Singapore, 18 January 2010 (Monday) – The Singapore Management University (SMU) has appointed Professor Arnoud De Meyer (??? • ???? ??), Director of Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, to succeed Professor Howard Hunter as the University's fourth President. He will commence a five-year term on 1 September 2010 when Professor Hunter completes his service as President at the end of August 2010.
Professor De Meyer was closely associated with the leading French international graduate business school INSEAD, spending 23 years there in various senior academic and administrative positions before being appointed to head Cambridge's Judge Business School in 2006. At INSEAD, he was Akzo Nobel Fellow in Strategic Management, Professor of Technology Management, Dean of the MBA programme and Executive Education, Director-General of the Euro-Asia Centre, and Dean of External Relations and Administration. His strongest connection to Singapore was as founding Dean of INSEAD's Asia Campus in Singapore between 1999 and 2002 where he was instrumental in extending the school's business education and research to the Asian continent.
A leading and well-known scholar in management studies, Professor De Meyer has researched, published and consulted widely in areas ranging from manufacturing and technology strategy to management of R&D and innovation, with particular interest in management and innovation in Asia, and globalisation of Asian firms. While heading INSEAD in Singapore, he served as member of the Singapore Economic Review Committee, and on the boards of the Infocomm Development Authority and Sentosa Island Corporation. Please see Annex for his full CV.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Chairman of the SMU Board of Trustees said: “We are very pleased to have concluded our global search for a new president and found in Arnoud a passionate educator, visionary leader and distinguished scholar with an illustrious track record in academic research and industry connections. Arnoud joins us at a pivotal point in SMU's development as the University turns ten years old and is gearing up for greater global recognition. We warmly welcome Arnoud on board and I am confident that he will lead SMU with distinction at this critical stage of our development.”
“I would like to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of Professor Howard (Woody) Hunter in the last five years. Among many other achievements, he has overseen the move to the new city campus, establishment of the School of Law, launch of the MBA and Juris Doctor programmes, growth of several research institutes and centres, and development of new programmes and initiatives relevant in meeting the needs of the business world. We are delighted Woody has agreed to continue in his appointment as Professor of Law in SMU. As well as helping with mentoring the Law School at its early stage of development, it is Woody's personal desire to return to his first love of teaching,” Mr Ho added.
Professor Arnoud De Meyer, President-designate of SMU said: “SMU has anchored itself as a dynamic institution of higher learning in Singapore and the region, providing a different pedagogy and generating high impact research with tremendous industry relevance. I am excited to return to Asia to be part of the leadership team and look forward to playing a part to help SMU realise its full potential in the next few years.”
Professor Howard Hunter, President of SMU said: “When I took over leadership of SMU in 2004, I saw a fine, young university bursting with energy and potential. Today, SMU has firmly established itself in the higher education sector as a leading university of learning and research, having grown by leaps and bounds in the last ten years. I have full confidence in handing the baton over to Arnoud as the fourth president. His extensive academic and management experience at INSEAD and Cambridge, with his wide international perspective and research interest in Asia, will be invaluable to SMU in its next phase of growth and development.”