Shih Choon Fong
| Shih Choon Fong | |
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| Founding President of KAUST | |
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In office December 2008 – June 2013 |
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| President of the National University of Singapore |
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In office 2000–2008 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1945 Singapore |
| Spouse(s) | Li Cheng |
| Residence | Beijing, PRC & Singapore |
| Alma mater | Singapore Polytechnic, Harvard University |
| Profession | University professor, national university of singapore |
| Website | nus |
Professor Shih Choon Fong (施春风; born 1945) is the former president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and a renowned fracture mechanics expert. Before joining KAUST as Founding President in December 2008, he was president of the National University of Singapore (NUS) for 9 years and has been widely acknowledged for creating the University's research-intensive focus with an entrepreneurial dimension, as well as for NUS' elevated global reputation. Drawing from his experiences abroad, Shih institutionalised a performance- and market-based evaluation and compensation system for academics.
Prof. Shih was a key driver for the formation of the International Alliance of Research Universities, and led the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) for four years. He was the founding chair of the Governing Board of the APRU World Institute and served on national-level committees such as the Economic Review Committee, which crafted wide-ranging strategies for the re-making of Singapore.
Shih was announced as the Founding President of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) on 13 January 2008. Shih fully assumed this new role on 1 December 2008. In summer 2012 Shih announced that he would step down as President of KAUST in fall 2013, after five years at the institution. He was succeeded by Caltech president Jean-Lou Chameau in July 2013. Under his guidance KAUST has become internationally respected among the world's best faculty, said KAUST Board chairman and Saudi Oil minister Ali I. Al-Naimi in a tribute.
Shih is among the highly cited researchers in the world for the category of engineering compiled by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).
In 2004, Shih became the first Singaporean to be elected as a Foreign Associate to the United States National Academy of Engineering.
He was awarded the French decoration "Chevalier" in the Order of the "Legion d'Honneur" in 2005.
In recognition of his work and research achievements, Shih was elected as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006.
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