The October 2013 issue of SMU's corporate newsletter, SMU Engage, is now available to be downloaded in PDF format here. Here is what Alan Goh, Vice President Corporate Communications & Marketing, wrote in his "Editor's Note".

Editor's Note

"The past is not the future" underscores the statement of intent in Chairman He Kwon Ping's feature article, “The Challenges Ahead". As he reflects on the successes of SMU over the years, he shares his observations and provides some glimpses of the shape of things to come in the future. It is a compelling read for the SMU community and those who have a keen interest in SMU.

At the same time, we also honour people who have made significant contributions to SMU. We are grateful to Professor Janice Bellace, our founding president who had helped to lay the foundations of SMU from January 2000 through to September 2001. Professor Bellace then continued to serve as a member of the University's Board of Trustees till 31 May 2013. Read the tributes in the story, “Thanks, Janice for your tireless contributions”.

“Commencement With A Difference” is a story borne out of SMU's DNA to do things differently. How could we make an important graduation ceremony with an inherent austerity into something that respects tradition and at the same time gives the audience a joie de vivre moment?

In President Arnaud De Meyer's State of the University speech in 2012, he urged SMU staff to adopt the spirit of “want something, do something” that he found in some departments. Today, many have risen to this challenge of ownership and excellence: our School of Law students' chalking up impressive – and historic – wins in several international moot competitions; our Lee Kong Chian School of Business's Masters In Wealth Management scores a first for SMU and the country by coming in second in Financial Times' world ranking; and our administrative staff from different departments working together in enhancing operations and management development excellence through Initiatives such as Business Processes Improvement and Management Development Programme.

In the field of thought leadership and reputation enhancement, we are seeing a bumper year with distinguished political, academic and Industry luminaries conducting engaging seminal speeches, lectures and conversations through our Presidential Distinguished Lecturer Series and the Ho Rih Hwa Leadership in Asia Pacific Lecture Series. We hosted Indonesian Minister Gita Wirjawan, Professors Tarun Khanna, Zhang Jie, and Nobel Laureates Thomas Sargent and F.W. de Klerk. Discover SMU's growing footprint, in the stories in the Academia and Connections sections, of how the University is spreading its wings across China, India and the Middle East.

I hope you will enjoy this issue of Engage.

Alan Goh
Vice President
Corporate Communications & Marketing