Leader of the Global Alliance of Technological Universities: Dr Su Guaning 

Dr Su Guaning has been helming Nanyang Technological University as its President since January 2003. In 2009, he was elected the founding Chairman of the Global Alliance of Technological Universities, a coalition comprising seven of the world's top technological institutions pursuing a common goal of addressing global societal issues.

In addition to NTU, the other partner-universities of the Alliance are the California Institute of Technology, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Dr Su was re-elected Chairman in 2010.

An advocate for science and technology, Dr Su has led the transformation of NTU, widening its academic programme with the establishment of three new schools – the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Art, Design and Media and the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

This expansion has been complemented by a range of infrastructural developments on campus (including the construction of a number of world-class facilities such as the High Performance Computing Centre; the Facility for Analysis, Characterisation, Testing & Simulation; and the Nanyang Nanofabrication Centre), as well as by refinements to NTU's administrative structure. A four-college system was introduced in 2006 to strengthen governance across the university and to allow faculty members to maximise their teaching and research efforts.

Under Dr Su's leadership, NTU has undergone an unprecedented growth in its research and educational capacities, attracting top global administrators and faculty such as Prof Bertil Andersson, Prof Kerry Sieh and Prof Chris Newhall. A Blue Ribbon Commission on Undergraduate Education was formed to conduct a bottom-up review of the university's undergraduate education philosophy and curriculum, and implement ways for students to have a broader learning experience.

At his installation as the second President of NTU, Dr Su said: "I am immensely proud to be the President of this university. I am proud of the people we have and the students we have. I feel privileged to have this opportunity to create a unique university that will stand as a shining beacon of knowledge throughout the world."

As one of the principal architects of the NTU2015 strategic plan, Dr Su is leading the university's drive in five focal areas – Sustainable Earth, Future Healthcare, New Media, the New Silk Road and Innovation Asia. These will bring new solutions to the great global challenges of our age as well as become key drivers of Singapore's economy.

Dr Su is a Singapore President's Scholar and Colombo Plan Scholar. He had made profound contributions towards sharpening the technological edge of Singapore's defence capabilities before joining NTU. Under his directorship, DSO National Laboratories grew from a small R&D team of 50 professional staff into the largest indigenous R&D institute with nearly 1,000 research scientists and engineers with world-class competencies in areas of defence technology. Dr Su then transformed the Ministry of Defence's engineering and scientific arm, the Defence Technology Group, into the Defence Science & Technology Agency and served as its founding Chief Executive. 

A registered Professional Engineer, Dr Su is a Fellow and past President of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore, and Founding Fellow of the ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology. He has received numerous awards and honours for his contributions to education and research, including two Public Administration Medals (1989 and 1998) and the Public Service Medal (1997), conferred by the President of Singapore; the National Science and Technology Medal (2003), Singapore; and the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour Medal (2005), conferred by the President of France.

Other references:
NTU President's Message
The Straits Times: "Being Chinese and Singaporean"
Lianhe Zaobao: "NTU will search for its future president globally"
The Straits Times: "A solution for any problem" 
The Straits Times: "University Education – Teaching that learning is a lifelong pursuit"
The Business Times: "Taking a step for mankind"
Lianhe Zaobao: "NTU's future plans"