SINGAPORE - The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has appointed its acting president and founding provost Chong Tow Chong as its new president with effect from April 1, the tertiary institution said on Friday (March 23).

He will replace Thomas Magnanti, who was the university's president from October 2009 to December 2017. Prof Magnanti is the president emeritus of SUTD, a role he has held since January 2018.

Before joining the SUTD as provost, Prof Chong was the executive director of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*Star) Science and Engineering Council, as well as its Data Storage Institute.

Said SUTD chairman Lee Tzu Yang: "After a thorough and wide search, we find that professor Chong, who has been with us from the conception of SUTD, is the best person for the role of SUTD's next president. In addition to his experience running the university and his commitment to SUTD's vision of bettering the world through technology and design, he is also the architect of SUTD's new growth plans."

Prof Chong said that the university's next phase of growth "will be big and bold - in both vision and ambition". "Building upon the strong foundation achieved over the past eight years, my team and I will continue to invest in strengthening SUTD's core and creating new strategic differentiation, by evolving and refining our innovative education and multi-disciplinary research, as well as expanding our pervasive partnerships with industry, government and global universities," he said.

The search for the university's new provost is ongoing locally and globally, the SUTD said.

THE BUSINESS TIMES