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Professor Bertil Andersson
President
Nanyang Technological University |
Professor Bertil Andersson is a plant biochemist of international reputation and is the author of over 300 papers in photosynthesis research, biological membranes, protein and membrane purification and light stress in plants.
He was educated at Umeå and Lund Universities in Sweden. He started his research career at Umeå, after which he became a Professor of Biochemistry at Stockholm University, Sweden, in 1986. From 1996-2003, he became Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences at Stockholm University. In 1999, he was the Rector (President) of Linköping University, Sweden, until the end of 2003. From 2004-2007, he led the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg as its Chief Executive, during which he collaborated closely with the DFG (German Research Foundation), the Max Planck Society, the British Research Council and Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France.
From April 2007 to June 2011, he was Provost of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He has been instrumental in helping to redefine education and research at NTU through championing the growth of high-impact science and engineering, and making the university the choice of top international young scientists.
In domains such as sustainability, healthcare, new media and innovation, he has spearheaded institutional changes that have led to bold new programmes as well as large increases in funding support. A Visiting Professor and Fellow of Imperial College London, Professor Andersson is a key driver of Singapore’s new medical school jointly established by NTU and Imperial College London.
Having strengthened NTU’s reputation as one of the fastest-growing research-intensive universities in the world, Professor Andersson was appointed President-Designate of the University on 1 January 2011. He officially took the helm of the University on 1 July 2011.
From 1989 to 1997, he was a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry (Chair in 1997), later becoming a member of the Nobel Foundation (2000-2006). He was, from 2006 to 2010, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Nobel Foundation and participated in the annual Lindau Nobel Laureate meetings.
He holds honorary doctorates from several universities – the latest being from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem – and continues to hold academic appointments as Professor of Biochemistry at Linköping University and Adjunct Professor at Umeå University.
Professor Andersson is a Board member of Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority, the national body for building standards, and A*STAR Singapore, the government agency in charge of national scientific research and development. He is an Advisory Board Member of the Euroscience Open Forum, and has been a member of the boards of several Swedish and international foundations and learned societies, including the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Australian Academy of Sciences and Academia Europaea.
He is a research adviser to the Swedish government and was, between 2004 and 2007, the Vice President of the European Research Advisory Board (EURAB) of the European Commission in Brussels. He has also been an adviser to business activities in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals sector. He is currently a board member of the Trustee Committee of the Körber Foundation of the Max Planck Society in Germany.
In November 2010, Professor Andersson received the Wilhelm Exner Medal in Vienna, Austria, joining an illustrious list of laureates, which includes Nobel Prize winners. The award is in recognition of Professor Andersson’s research related to artificial leaves and its creation as well as his contributions to European and Austrian research. This medal has been awarded since 1921 to scientists and inventors whose work has opened new possibilities in industrial applications.
