image: NTU Singapore President Prof Ho Teck Hua has been honured with two awards.
Credit: NTU Singapore
For his profound impact on the science and technology landscape in Singapore, Professor Ho Teck Hua, President of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has been awarded the President’s Science and Technology Medal (PSTM)[1], Singapore’s top honour for science and technology.
The prominent behavioural scientist has also been named an Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Fellow, one of the highest honours in the field of operations research and analytics.
The PSTM was presented to Prof Ho today by the President of the Republic of Singapore Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the President’s Science and Technology Awards ceremony held at NTU Singapore.
Prof Ho was lauded for his exceptional contributions to level up Singapore’s science and technology landscape by attracting top scientific talent, nurturing a pipeline of top scientists, fostering interdisciplinary research, and developing national research and development ecosystems.
Prof Ho said: “Recruiting top talent requires perfect teamwork. I am very fortunate to have had the chance to work with many talented individuals to attract top scientists to Singapore. With strong support from the government over the last decade, I have been given the freedom and resources to drive innovation boldly. This has been very energising.”
He added: “NTU and NUS have consistently been ranked among the top universities in the world. I hope that one day a Nobel laureate or Turing Award winner will emerge from Singapore.”
Attracting top talent to boost Singapore’s R&D ecosystem
Prof Ho has helped attract some of the world’s best academics and scientists to Singapore’s science and technology ecosystem.
In his former capacity as the Senior Deputy President and Provost at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and now as NTU President, Prof Ho transformed the hiring culture and raised the quality of hires at both universities.
He strongly believes in creating a conducive environment in which top talent can thrive and succeed, based on the belief that a university’s world-class talent will draw others of equal calibre.
At NUS, he developed the Presidential Young Professorship scheme. At NTU, he revamped the NTU Nanyang Assistant Professorship scheme. Both schemes have brought many outstanding early career researchers to Singapore.
Prof Ho has also worked to produce a constant pipeline of AI talent and develop the nation’s research and development ecosystem in his capacity as the Founding Executive Chairman of AI Singapore (AISG). Under his leadership, AISG became one of the largest national research and development programmes working to transform Singapore into a global, trusted AI hub.
To develop a pipeline of AI engineers and experts who can produce solutions that benefit society, AISG launched a nine-month AI Apprenticeship Programme in 2017 and an AI PhD programme in 2020.
Driving interdisciplinary research
A firm believer that the greatest challenges facing Singapore will demand powerful, holistic solutions, Prof Ho strongly advocates for interdisciplinary research that can be translated into tangible solutions that benefit society.
At NUS, he spearheaded the establishment of two interdisciplinary colleges – NUS College and the College of Design and Environment. At NTU, he pushed for the establishment of the College of Computing and Data Science (CCDS). The college was created to deepen NTU’s capabilities in AI, data science, and computing and accelerate interdisciplinary collaborations between computing and other disciplines at the University.
Prof Ho also played an important role in creating a tripartite partnership between Temasek, NUS, and NTU to develop a deep-tech incubator with joint funding of S$75 million for the most promising start-ups.
This joint venture programme has since invested in Amperesand, an NTU deep-tech spin-off that aims to use its proprietary solid-state transformer technology to enable faster and safer charging of electric vehicles.
An accomplished award winner
Prof Ho has also been named to the 2024 class of Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Fellows for his contributions to the fields of behavioural science, marketing and operational management, and service to the fields of operations research, management science and artificial intelligence.
He is among 12 luminaries this year named a Fellow of INFORMS – an international association for the decision and data sciences – who will be celebrated at the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting held October 20 to 23 in Seattle, Washington. The society counts Nobel Laureates among its 12,000 members.
Dr Elena Gerstmann, executive director of INFORMS, said Prof Ho, along with the class of 2024 INFORMS Fellows, “represents the pinnacle of excellence in operations research and analytics”. She added that Prof Ho “has made a lasting impact on the field and reflects his dedication to bringing about a better world through smarter decisions”.
The PSTM and INFORMS Fellow Award add to Prof Ho’s list of accolades. Before returning to Singapore, he was a chaired professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. In 2015, the Haas School presented him with the Williamson Award[2], the School’s highest faculty award.
Prof Ho is also the President of the Academy of Engineering, Singapore, and an academician of Academia Sinica. He sits on the boards of DSO National Laboratories, the Government Technology Agency, and the National Research Foundation.
In 2023, he was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) for his many significant contributions to education.
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[1] The President’s Science and Technology Medal (PSTM) is awarded to individuals who have made distinguished, sustained, and exceptional contributions while playing a strategic role in advancing Singapore’s development through the promotion and management of science and technology.
[2] The Williamson Award is named in honour of Oliver Williamson, recipient of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and celebrates honourees who best reflect the character and integrity associated with Williamson’s scholarly work and legacy.