The National University of Singapore (NUS) today celebrated the accomplishments of eight outstanding members of the NUS community who have scaled new peaks of excellence and raised the bar in education, research, mentorship and service. The annual NUS University Awards recognises educators, researchers and professionals for their exceptional contributions to the University, Singapore and the global community.
This year, the prestigious Outstanding Service Award was conferred on Mr Bilahari Kausikan, Chairman of the Middle East Institute at NUS and former Singapore diplomat, and Dr Teh Kok Peng, Chairman of the East Asian Institute at NUS and veteran in Singapore finance and economic development. The top award is in recognition of their inspiring leadership and dedicated service, both being accomplished individuals who have made sustained contributions in selflessly serving the University and society.
A new award category introduced this year, the inaugural Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award was presented to Provost's Chair Professor Abhik Roychoudhury from the Department of Computer Science at NUS School of Computing. It honours faculty members who have excelled in graduate mentoring through their dedication in developing students holistically, commitment in producing research leaders who excel globally, and have been identified by their colleagues and students as deserving of special recognition. Beyond sustained and positive impact on graduate mentoring, recipients of the Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award will also strengthen graduate mentorship by sharing their practice and providing guidance.
NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said, "The winners of the University Awards 2024 are remarkable achievers who have demonstrated high standards and lifted the university to a higher plane. They are trailblazers and have inspired us to challenge the impossible and reach for the stars. NUS is a place where ideas flourish, minds are nurtured, and innovation takes root. Our winners embody the spirit of excellence and the ambition to bring about lasting impact in the world. We are immensely proud of their sterling contributions across different fields and spheres of society. I extend my heartiest congratulations and admiration to all award recipients."
Besides the Outstanding Service Award and the Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award, the other award categories are the University Research Recognition Award, Young Researcher Award, and Outstanding Educator Award.
Outstanding Service Award
Mr Bilahari Kausikan
As Chairman of the Middle East Institute (MEI) at NUS - an appointment that he has held since 2017, Mr Kausikan has leveraged on his decades of diplomatic service experience, and wide global and national recognition, to drive the institute's impactful research, and enhanced its stature and reputation.
He has guided MEI's focus and publications towards what was relevant to its primary stakeholders in the Singapore government and relatable to the general public, while maintaining the highest standards of academic rigour. MEI is now well-known in East Asia, the Middle East, the US and Europe. Mr Kausikan will be retiring as MEI Chairman in end-August 2024, but he will remain associated with the institute as an Honorary Fellow.
During his 37-year career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kausikan has contributed to steering Singapore's foreign relations in an increasingly complex and uncertain international environment. The veteran diplomat served in diverse appointments at home and abroad, including Ambassador to The Russian Federation and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was appointed Deputy Secretary for Southeast Asia in 1998 and Second Permanent Secretary (Foreign Affairs) in 2001. He served as Permanent Secretary (Foreign Affairs) from 2010, before retiring in 2013, whereupon he was appointed Ambassador-at-Large, a position he held until 2018.
Known for his pragmatic and candid views, Mr Kausikan has written and spoken extensively on the complexities of diplomacy, nation-states and international politics, particularly the role of ASEAN vis-à-vis the global powers.
Dr Teh Kok Peng
Dr Teh Kok Peng has had a distinguished career in finance and economic development. He served as President of GIC Special Investments from April 1999 to June 2011, where he oversaw global investments in private equity, infrastructure and international venture funds. His early career at the World Bank and his roles as Deputy Managing Director of both the Monetary Authority of Singapore and GIC underscored his significant contributions to Singapore's financial and economic development.
In recognition of his service, Dr Teh has received numerous accolades, including the AVCJ (Asian Venture Capital Journal) Special Achievement Award in 2022 and the Public Administration Award (Gold) during Singapore's National Day Awards in 1992. His academic journey, with degrees from La Trobe University and the University of Oxford, laid the foundation for his lifelong pursuit of excellence.
Under his sterling stewardship as Chairman of EAI, the institute has undergone a strategic transformation that has significantly enhanced its capacity to conduct cutting-edge academic and policy-oriented research on East Asian development. Among his contributions are the initiation of a strategic review of the EAI Board. Following this, the Board was reconstituted to include members from the corporate sector, harnessing a more diverse range of relevant expertise in service of the institute's mission of promoting academic and policy-oriented research on East Asian development.
Dr Teh's contributions also encompassed the higher education sector, where he served on the boards of NUS, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and Institute of Policy Studies.
Six exemplary academics and researchers honoured
The NUS University Awards also celebrated the accomplishments of six outstanding academics and researchers:
University Research Recognition Award
1) Professor Wang Linfa from Duke-NUS Medical School
Internationally recognised for his stellar contributions to the field of emerging bat viruses and bat biology, Prof Wang has fuelled discoveries and biomedical innovations that have helped combat several viral outbreaks, from the Hendra virus in Australia to the global COVID-19 pandemic. He was featured in Clarivate's list of Highly Cited Researchers, which recognises researchers who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
2) Professor Brenda Yeoh Saw Ai from the Department of Geography, NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, who is also research leader of the Asian Migration Research Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, NUS
Prof Yeoh is known for her outstanding research record and reputation in the field of migration and transnationalism studies in the context of Asia, as recognised by election as Fellow (International) of the British Academy in 2022, and the award of the Vautrin Lud Prize, one of the highest international awards for outstanding achievements in Geography, in 2021.
Young Researcher Award
1) Assistant Professor Jasper Tromp from NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
Asst Prof Tromp is a distinguished researcher who focuses on heart failure, artificial intelligence, and health systems research. His pioneering work in leveraging machine learning algorithms to enhance the detection and management of heart failure has profound implications for the field of cardiology.
2) Assistant Professor Wang Xinchao from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Design and Engineering at NUS
Asst Prof Wang is known internationally for his work on efficient and trustworthy machine learning for applications, including computer vision and natural language processing. He invented the world's most popular structural pruning approach, DepGraph, for pruning deep neural networks with one line of code in a fully automatic manner. The software has been downloaded over 125,000 times.
Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award
1) Professor Abhik Roychoudhury from the Department of Computer Science, NUS School of Computing
Prof Roychoudhury has fostered a culture of holistic mentorship that emphasises collaboration and creativity over traditional supervision, encouraging imagination and original thought among his students. He has nurtured research leaders who have excelled on the global stage, garnering international esteemed research awards and leadership recognition both during and beyond their PhD studies.
Outstanding Educator Award
1) Associate Professor Peter Thomas Vail from NUS College
Assoc Prof Vail led the design, development and coordination of the compulsory Impact Experience (IEx) capstone course. One of NUS College's flagship programmes, IEx allows students to undertake community service and development projects in countries across Southeast Asia and Singapore. He also crafted and piloted the NUS College Global Experience course, GEx Bali - Lombok, which focuses on marine conservation and participatory development strategies.
