Leadership
At NUS College, we are challenging the way everyone thinks about education. Meet our leaders, who are collectively formulating incredible new questions to help chart a new educational journey that transcends disciplinary and geographical boundaries.
Rector
Cheong Koon Hean
Rector
Prof Cheong is Chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities Advisory Panel (Ministry of National Development) and the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (SUTD). She serves on several international expert and advisory panels, including the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment as its Senior Advisor (Public Sector Sustainability). In addition to being the Rector of NUS College and an NUS Trustees Board member, she is also a Practice Professor in SUTD and on the board of the CapitaLand Group.
Prof Cheong was formerly the CEO of the Housing and Development Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of National Development. A Colombo Plan scholar, she holds a First Class Honours degree and University Gold Medal in Architecture and a Doctor of Architecture honoris causa from the University of Newcastle, a Master’s degree in Urban Development Planning from University College London and has completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.
She is a recipient of several awards, notably the Meritorious Medal for outstanding public service and is the first Asian to be conferred both the Urban Land Institute’s Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
Prof Cheong is also Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Finland.
Prof Cheong is Chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities Advisory Panel (Ministry of National Development) and the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (SUTD). She serves on several international expert and advisory panels, including the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment as its Senior Advisor (Public Sector Sustainability). In addition to being the Rector of NUS College and an NUS Trustees Board member, she is also a Practice Professor in SUTD and on the board of the CapitaLand Group.
Prof Cheong was formerly the CEO of the Housing and Development Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of National Development. A Colombo Plan scholar, she holds a First Class Honours degree and University Gold Medal in Architecture and a Doctor of Architecture honoris causa from the University of Newcastle, a Master’s degree in Urban Development Planning from University College London and has completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.
She is a recipient of several awards, notably the Meritorious Medal for outstanding public service and is the first Asian to be conferred both the Urban Land Institute’s Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
Prof Cheong is also Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Finland.
Deanery
Simon Chesterman
Dean
Professor Simon Chesterman is Vice Provost (Educational Innovation) at the National University of Singapore and the founding Dean of NUS College. He is also Senior Director of AI Governance at AI Singapore, Editor of the Asian Journal of International Law, and Co-President of the Law Schools Global League. Previously, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Law at NUS, from 2012 to 2022.
Educated in Melbourne, Beijing, Amsterdam, and Oxford, Prof Chesterman has taught at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Southampton, Columbia, and Sciences Po. From 2006 to 2011, he was Global Professor and Director of the New York University (NYU) School of Law Singapore Programme. Prior to joining NYU, he was a Senior Associate at the International Peace Academy and Director of UN Relations at the International Crisis Group in New York. He has previously worked for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yugoslavia and interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Prof Chesterman is the author or editor of 21 books, and a recognised authority on international law. His work has opened up new areas of research on conceptions of public authority – including the rules and institutions of global governance, state-building and post-conflict reconstruction, the changing role of intelligence agencies, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence and big data. He also writes on legal education and higher education more generally, and is the author of four young adult fiction novels, including the Raising Arcadia trilogy.
Daniel PS Goh
Vice Dean (Special Programmes)
Daniel Goh is NUS Associate Provost (Undergraduate Education). An NUS alumnus, he is also Associate Professor of Sociology at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and helms the integrated social science course, Understanding Social Complexity, at the NUS College of Humanities and Sciences.
As Vice Dean (Special Programmes), he oversees innovative courses within NUSC, such as the Impact Experience Project, Global Pathways, and student exchanges. He is also the lead on career support and graduate study advice.
Prof Goh’s core research interest lies in the historical and sociological relationship between culture and state formation. He received his PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2005, the dissertation thesis for which was on the influence of ethnography on colonial state formation in British Malaya and the American Philippines. He has since branched out into three research areas: race and multiculturalism, postcolonialism and the politics of identity, and the cultural politics of urban regeneration. Prof Goh’s research is informed by interdisciplinary collaborations with anthropologists, geographers, historians, legal scholars, planning scholars and fellow sociologists. He has published over 60 articles in journals and books.
Prof Goh was a Workers’ Party Non-constituency Member of Parliament in the 13th Parliament of Singapore, 2016–2020.
Eleanor Wong Siew Yin
Vice Dean (Residential Programmes & Enrichment)
A graduate of the NUS Faculty of Law, Associate Professor Eleanor Wong returned in 2002 to launch its Legal Skills Programme as Director. At the Law Faculty, she is a member of the Leadership Team and currently serves as Co-Director of the Centre for Pro Bono and Clinical Legal Education, Director of the Legal Skills Programme and Co-ordinator of the International Moot Programme. She is also NUS Associate Provost (Special Projects) and Dean of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education.
Concurrently, as Vice Dean (Residential Programmes & Enrichment) at NUSC, she directs the NUSC residential programme; she also oversees aspects of residential living to facilitate an enriching experience, including student life, pastoral care, and discipline.
Prof Wong started her career with the Commercial Affairs Department, prosecuting complex commercial and securities frauds. She obtained a masters in corporate law from New York University in 1990 and thereafter joined international law firm Coudert Brothers, working in their New York and Singapore offices. She specialised in international banking and finance work for Coudert and, later, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. In 2000, she joined leading local media company The Right Angle. There, she provided communications consultancy and training for top executives. Prof Wong continues her links to industry as a Consultant with Helmsman LLC.
In addition to her legal publications, Prof Wong is a published playwright and poet.
Simon Chesterman is David Marshall Professor and Vice Provost (Educational Innovation) at the National University of Singapore, where he is also the founding Dean of NUS College. He serves as Senior Director of AI Governance at AI Singapore and Editor of the Asian Journal of International Law. Previously, he was Dean of NUS Law from 2012 to 2022 and Co-President of the Law Schools Global League from 2021 to 2023.
Educated in Melbourne, Beijing, Amsterdam, and Oxford, Professor Chesterman’s teaching experience includes periods at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Southampton, Columbia, and Sciences Po. From 2006-2011, he was Global Professor and Director of the New York University School of Law Singapore Programme. Prior to joining NYU, he was a Senior Associate at the International Peace Academy and Director of UN Relations at the International Crisis Group in New York. He has also worked for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yugoslavia and interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Professor Chesterman is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including We, the Robots? Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of the Law (CUP, 2021); One Nation Under Surveillance (OUP, 2011); You, the People (OUP, 2004); and Just War or Just Peace? (OUP, 2001). He is a recognised authority on international law, whose work has opened up new areas of research on conceptions of public authority — including the rules and institutions of global governance, state-building and post-conflict reconstruction, the changing role of intelligence agencies, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence and big data. He also writes on legal education and higher education more generally, and is the author of five novels including the Raising Arcadia trilogy and Artifice.
Daniel Goh is NUS Associate Provost (Undergraduate Education). An NUS alumnus, he is also Associate Professor of Sociology at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and helms the integrated social science course, Understanding Social Complexity, at the NUS College of Humanities and Sciences.
As Vice Dean (Special Programmes), he oversees innovative courses within NUSC, such as the Impact Experience Project, Global Pathways, and student exchanges. He is also the lead on career support and graduate study advice.
Prof Goh’s core research interest lies in the historical and sociological relationship between culture and state formation. He received his PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2005, the dissertation thesis for which was on the influence of ethnography on colonial state formation in British Malaya and the American Philippines. He has since branched out into three research areas: race and multiculturalism, postcolonialism and the politics of identity, and the cultural politics of urban regeneration. Prof Goh’s research is informed by interdisciplinary collaborations with anthropologists, geographers, historians, legal scholars, planning scholars and fellow sociologists. He has published over 60 articles in journals and books.
Prof Goh was a Workers’ Party Non-constituency Member of Parliament in the 13th Parliament of Singapore, 2016–2020.
A graduate of the NUS Faculty of Law, Associate Professor Eleanor Wong returned in 2002 to launch its Legal Skills Programme as Director. At the Law Faculty, she is a member of the Leadership Team and currently serves as Co-Director of the Centre for Pro Bono and Clinical Legal Education, Director of the Legal Skills Programme and Co-ordinator of the International Moot Programme. She is also NUS Associate Provost (Special Projects) and Dean of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education.
Concurrently, as Vice Dean (Residential Programmes & Enrichment) at NUSC, she directs the NUSC residential programme; she also oversees aspects of residential living to facilitate an enriching experience, including student life, pastoral care, and discipline.
Prof Wong started her career with the Commercial Affairs Department, prosecuting complex commercial and securities frauds. She obtained a masters in corporate law from New York University in 1990 and thereafter joined international law firm Coudert Brothers, working in their New York and Singapore offices. She specialised in international banking and finance work for Coudert and, later, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. In 2000, she joined leading local media company The Right Angle. There, she provided communications consultancy and training for top executives. Prof Wong continues her links to industry as a Consultant with Helmsman LLC.
In addition to her legal publications, Prof Wong is a published playwright and poet.
Loy Hui Chieh
Vice Dean (Academic Affairs)
Loy Hui Chieh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, where he has also been Vice Dean (External Relations and Student Life) since 2016. Prof Loy joined the teaching faculty of the University Scholars Programme (USP) in 2011, and has served as a Residential Fellow at Cinnamon College (USP) since 2014.
As Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) at NUSC, he directs the NUSC academic programme and be the primary liaison with faculty on teaching duties and with students on academic matters.
Prof Loy received his BA (Hons) and MA in Philosophy from NUS, and PhD in Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley. His published research is mainly in early Chinese philosophy, with forays into cognate fields in collaboration with others, such as the history of science in East Asia, and contemporary notions of political legitimacy in East Asia.
Prof Loy’s other academic interests include ancient Greek philosophy, early modern and contemporary ethics and political philosophy. He is also on the editorial board for Chinese Comparative Philosophy for Philosophy Compass. Student projects supervised range more widely, from the purely philosophical to topics more social scientific in nature.
Quek Su Ying
Vice Dean (Outreach)
Quek Su Ying is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the NUS Faculty of Science.
As Vice Dean (Outreach) at NUSC, she oversees admissions, communications, as well as alumni and donor relations.
Prof Quek leads a computation and theory group to predict the properties of emerging materials, a research area that is highly interdisciplinary in nature. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, she completed her PhD degree in Applied Physics in Harvard University, and pursued postdoctoral studies in the University of California, Berkeley. She started her independent career in the Institute of High Performance Computing (A*STAR) in Singapore, before joining NUS in 2013. Her work involves unravelling the awesome secrets of nature through understanding fundamental interactions between particles. Together with her team of talented students and research fellows, she has published more than 60 articles which have been cited more than 3,000 times.
Prof Quek counts herself fortunate to have had many excellent mentors, and hopes to also have a positive impact on the students in NUS and NUSC. She is married to a wonderful husband and is blessed with four children, who happen to be among her best teachers in her personal journey of lifelong learning.
Jayagowry Appalasamy
Head of Administration
Jaya is the Head of Administration at NUS College. Her portfolio oversees finance and budgeting, human resource, space and operational matters for the college.
Prior to joining NUS College, Jaya was Associate Dean (Head of Administration) at NUS Law. Having vast experience in managing events and research funding, she is well-known to those involved with the Asian Law Institute and the Asian Society of International Law. She joined NUS in 2014 after spending more than a dozen years as a senior administrator with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Her stints include heading the Police National Service Branch at Clementi Police Division; the Operations & Corporate Services Branch of the Police Psychological Services Unit; and the Manpower Branch at the Police Training Command. She was also a senior para-counsellor and an editor of “Mind Matters”, an internal publication of SPF on mental wellness.
An alumni of NUS Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences (’99), she holds a Bachelor’s Degree with majors in English Language and Political Science. When not at work, she runs, hits the gym, enjoys cooking and reading legal/thriller fiction.
Loy Hui Chieh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, where he has also been Vice Dean (External Relations and Student Life) since 2016. Prof Loy joined the teaching faculty of the University Scholars Programme (USP) in 2011, and has served as a Residential Fellow at Cinnamon College (USP) since 2014.
As Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) at NUSC, he directs the NUSC academic programme and be the primary liaison with faculty on teaching duties and with students on academic matters.
Prof Loy received his BA (Hons) and MA in Philosophy from NUS, and PhD in Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley. His published research is mainly in early Chinese philosophy, with forays into cognate fields in collaboration with others, such as the history of science in East Asia, and contemporary notions of political legitimacy in East Asia.
Prof Loy’s other academic interests include ancient Greek philosophy, early modern and contemporary ethics and political philosophy. He is also on the editorial board for Chinese Comparative Philosophy for Philosophy Compass. Student projects supervised range more widely, from the purely philosophical to topics more social scientific in nature.
Quek Su Ying is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the NUS Faculty of Science.
As Vice Dean (Outreach) at NUSC, she oversees admissions, communications, as well as alumni and donor relations.
Prof Quek leads a computation and theory group to predict the properties of emerging materials, a research area that is highly interdisciplinary in nature. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, she completed her PhD degree in Applied Physics in Harvard University, and pursued postdoctoral studies in the University of California, Berkeley. She started her independent career in the Institute of High Performance Computing (A*STAR) in Singapore, before joining NUS in 2013. Her work involves unravelling the awesome secrets of nature through understanding fundamental interactions between particles. Together with her team of talented students and research fellows, she has published more than 60 articles which have been cited more than 3,000 times.
Prof Quek counts herself fortunate to have had many excellent mentors, and hopes to also have a positive impact on the students in NUS and NUSC. She is married to a wonderful husband and is blessed with four children, who happen to be among her best teachers in her personal journey of lifelong learning.
Jaya is the Head of Administration at NUS College. Her portfolio oversees finance and budgeting, human resource, space and operational matters for the college.
Prior to joining NUS College, Jaya was Associate Dean (Head of Administration) at NUS Law. Having vast experience in managing events and research funding, she is well-known to those involved with the Asian Law Institute and the Asian Society of International Law. She joined NUS in 2014 after spending more than a dozen years as a senior administrator with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Her stints include heading the Police National Service Branch at Clementi Police Division; the Operations & Corporate Services Branch of the Police Psychological Services Unit; and the Manpower Branch at the Police Training Command. She was also a senior para-counsellor and an editor of “Mind Matters”, an internal publication of SPF on mental wellness.
An alumni of NUS Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences (’99), she holds a Bachelor’s Degree with majors in English Language and Political Science. When not at work, she runs, hits the gym, enjoys cooking and reading legal/thriller fiction.