Professor Lily Kong has been appointed as Singapore Management University’s (SMU) new Provost, she will also hold the Lee Kong Chian Chair Professorship of Social Sciences at the University.  This was announced by SMU President, Professor Arnoud De Meyer, at a press briefing held on 25 May 2015.  Professor Kong will assume her new role from 1 September 2015.

Professor Kong, who is currently Vice Provost (Academic Personnel) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) where she also holds the Provost’s Chair Professorship, brings to SMU 24 years of solid experience as a distinguished educator, prolific researcher and senior academic leader.  She succeeds Professor Rajendra Srivastava who will step down from 31 August after leading the University as its Provost and Deputy President (Academic Affairs) for the last seven years.  Professor Srivastava will continue to serve as the Senior Vice President of SMU’s International Office, a role he assumed from 1 December 2014, and will drive and strengthen SMU’s international activities to enhance the University’s global partnerships.

Professor Lily Kong’s name and academic credentials had emerged from an international search which was carried out by SMU from July last year.  Speaking to reporters, Professor De Meyer shared that the search committee headed by him was ‘looking for a number of characteristics’ in the candidates.

Photo: Professor De Meyer speaking to reporters at the press briefing held on 25 May 2015.

“The Provost is the chief academic officer of the University, thus the candidate needs to be of very high intellectual academic standards.  Secondly, the person must be someone who has an affinity to the disciplines that we have at SMU, somebody who has an academic background related to what we teach here.  Thirdly, we were looking for someone who has experience in managing universities.  We also wanted to have somebody who is internationally recognised, has a deep understanding of the global academic landscape, and knows Singapore very well,” he said.

“At the beginning, the Board of Trustees and I were worried that we have created a set of criteria that will be difficult for any candidate to match.  So, I’m very happy that we found that person in Professor Kong, and that we have been able to convince her to take on the job.  I’m looking forward to working with her,” he added.

In her new role, Professor Kong will be the second most senior in the SMU management team, working closely with Professor De Meyer.

Professor Kong has been a faculty member in the NUS Department of Geography since 1991.  She took on administrative positions from 1995, and was Sub-Dean, Vice-Dean and Dean in NUS' Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; Dean of the University Scholars Programme; Assistant Director, Office of Research; Vice Provost (Education); and Director of the Asia Research Institute.  She also played a key role in the establishment of Yale-NUS College when she was Vice-President (University and Global Relations) between 2007 and 2014, and as Acting Executive Vice President (Academic Affairs) of Yale-NUS College during the first two years of the College’s inception.

She is also an award-winning researcher and teacher, and has received five international fellowship awards including the Commonwealth Fellowship Award and the Fulbright Fellowship Award.  She has extensive experience and profile internationally through her academic work, having served or serving as co-editor or member of international editorial advisory boards for more than 15 journals, and is sought after as keynote speaker for many international conferences.  A prolific writer, Professor Kong has 13 books and monographs to her name, as well as over 100 papers in international refereed journals and chapters in books.

Photo: The press briefing was well-attended by all the key dailies in Singapore.

“She brings with her strong expertise and a proven track record as an educator, researcher and administrator.  She has a deep understanding of Singapore’s tertiary landscape, and also shares SMU’s vision and mission of delivering a broad-based education that emphasises global exposure and social responsibility… With her wide experience working in partnership with faculty, students and the community in Singapore and abroad, she is the right person to lead the SMU team in our aim to become a leading Asian university renowned for our holistic and interactive pedagogy as well as world-class, practical research,” said Professor De Meyer.

At the briefing, Professor Kong, who will oversee undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum development and planning, as well as drive research activities in SMU, spoke about being a bridge between SMU's business management niche and the social sciences.

Photo: Professor Kong sharing her plans with the press.

Professor Kong said that she is excited about the opportunities to help shape SMU in the next stage of its development.  Echoing President De Meyer’s comments that he wishes to beef up the humanities elements within the School of Social Sciences, Professor Kong said that there are plans to include more humanities offerings in the undergraduate foundation core modules.  This will allow students to develop a ‘rich and complex understanding of the past so that they might be able to operate well in the future’.

Also on her agenda is the growing of global exposure opportunities for students and the fostering of more international collaborations between SMU and overseas universities, in particular rising universities in the region.  "A university today, particularly in Singapore, is worth its salt only if it also has a strong international reputation," she said. 

“Graduates must be globally competent and cross-culturally sensitive - international exposure will enable this,” she added.  Currently, 86% of SMU students are getting international exposure; the University intends to increase this to 100% in the next few years.

Widely regarded as a thought leader in religion, cultural policy and creative economy, heritage and conservation, and national identity, Professor Kong will also become Singapore’s first female Provost.

Photo: Professor Kong speaking to the press at the briefing.

Acknowledging the existence of a male-dominated environment in many universities around the world, Professor Kong said, “I’m humbled to be able to achieve this in academia, thanks to the support at home, as well as to colleagues who have not allowed my gender to get in the way.”

Professor De Meyer referred to it as an ‘additional bonus’ for SMU.  “Professor Kong will be the first woman Provost in the history of Singapore’s educational institutions – again another 'first' achieved by SMU… it was not our criteria, but it is nice that we will now have a leadership team at SMU that has a good gender balance.”