Published on 13 Oct 2018

​NTU President receives honorary degrees from Sungkyunkwan University and Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Sungkyunkwan University and Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR), conferred honorary doctorate degrees this month on President of NTU Singapore, Professor Subra Suresh.

   

Professor Suresh was conferred an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the Sungkyunkwan University in recognition of his role in advancing scientific innovation throughout his career.

In the citation read during his conferment on 12 Oct, Prof Suresh was lauded for his “enormous contributions to educational innovation and development of NTU through creative research achievements and outstanding leadership”.

Prof Suresh joins 92 other honorary degree recipients at Sungkyunkwan University, the oldest university in East Asia. Notable among its past recipients are former Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, and Japanese academic and diplomat Sadako Ogata, now the Honorary Chair of the UN’s Advisory Board on Human Security.

Professor Chung Kyu Sang, President of the Sungkyunkwan University, said, “This conferment is the culmination of a highly competitive nomination process, and the selection committee was extremely impressed by the leading role which Prof Suresh has played in advancing scientific innovation throughout his career, including in his capacities as the President of NTU Singapore and Director of the United States National Science Foundation.”

Prof Suresh was also conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree on October 6th by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee. Prof Suresh was lauded for his role as a teacher, leader, and innovator at IIT Roorkee’s undergraduate convocation ceremony, where he was the chief guest.

Other past honorary degree recipients at IIT Roorkee include India’s first Prime Minister, the late Jawaharlal Nehru, and India’s decorated IT industry icon Ajai Chowdhry.

On being awarded the two honorary degrees, Prof Suresh said, “I am honoured by the recognition from Sungkyunkwan University and IIT Roorkee. These universities and their many distinguished alumni have had a substantial impact on society throughout their long history.”

Appointed in January as NTU President, Prof Suresh now holds 17 honorary doctorate degrees from institutions in the US, England, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, India, Russia and China. His other honours this year include honorary degrees from the University of Southampton in the UK and Northwestern University in the USA, the Brown Engineering Leadership Medal from Brown University’s School of Engineering, as well as election as Honorary Fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford University.

Prof Suresh has also been elected a fellow or honorary member of all the major materials research societies in the US and India, and to membership in 15 science or engineering academies around the world.  He holds the distinction of being a member of all three National Academies in the USA, of sciences, engineering and medicine.