The interview covered: first involvement with Singapore, tertiary education in Singapore, business schools, role of university, city campus.

Biography:

President, SMU, 2010–present

Professor De Meyer became the fourth president of SMU in September 2010. A leader and well-known scholar in management studies, his research interests include manufacturing and technology strategy, management of R&D and innovation, management under conditions of high uncertainty and for novel projects, management and innovation in Asia, the globalisation of Asian firms, and e-readiness in Europe. He publishes widely in academic journals and books.

For twenty three years, Professor De Meyer was associated with INSEAD where he held various senior academic and administrative positions, including founding dean of INSEAD’s Asia campus in Singapore. In 2006, he became director of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge (UK) where he was a Professor of Management Studies. Professor De Meyer has been a part-time professor at the University of Antwerp and Ghent in Belgium, and was a visiting professor at the University of Kiel (Germany), Waseda University in Tokyo, Keio University in Tokyo, and the Birla Institute of Technology in India.

Professor De Meyer has been a consultant to a number of companies throughout Europe and Asia. He was a member of the Singapore Economic Review Committee (2002–2003), and board member of the Infocomm Development Authority (2000–2003) and Sentosa Island Corporation (2001–2002). His current external directorships include board member of the National Research Foundation (Singapore), Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, Temasek Management Services (Singapore), and Dassault Systèmes SA (France).

Professor De Meyer has a master of science in electrical engineering, master of business administration and PhD in management from the University of Ghent (Belgium).