By Jane Ng

THE new president of the National University of Singapore (NUS) plans to make the recruitment and retention of faculty and students his key priority.

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, 49, who takes over the reins from Professor Shih Choon Fong today, said his focus would be on people because they made up the university.

'We will have a singular focus on developing, recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty and staff, because only with them can we excel in education, high-impact research and service,' he said in an interview last week on his priorities in the coming year.

He wants to lay at the feet of the teaching faculty the opportunities to pursue unconventional research ideas with potential for breakthroughs. They will also get more professional development support to innovate and excel.

A strategic recruitment committee will root out and recruit top-rate faculty in specific areas so the university can trace 'new pathways to distinction in both research and teaching'.

NUS will release more details next month.

Prof Tan has been its acting president since Aug 15; between 2004 and last year, he was its provost and deputy president, and then its senior deputy president.

A renal physician, he joined the Department of Medicine in 1987 and became NUS' youngest dean 10 years later at 38.

In 2000, he was seconded to the Health Ministry as director of medical services, before returning to NUS as deputy president and provost four years later.

He was identified as the new president when news broke earlier this year that Prof Shih would be joining the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, as its founding president.

In his second tour at NUS, Prof Tan plans to spend more time with students, staff and alumni.

He also intends to strengthen the university's collaborations with partner universities overseas, which will open up learning opportunities for the students.

He said: 'Students are the heart of our university, so our responsibility is to equip and challenge them to rise beyond themselves... and grow intellectually and as individuals.'

Asked what he hopes to achieve during his term as president, he said: 'I would like to create a dynamic intellectual community in NUS, powered by highly talented faculty, staff, students and alumni, with a culture that fiercely values excellence.'

He added that he wanted to 'steepen NUS' trajectory of development' by building on its impact and reputation to make it a leading global university and 'a thought-leader' in Asia.

The chairman of the NUS Board of Trustees, Mr Wong Ngit Liong, said: 'It is our university's good fortune to find a visionary leader in Chorh Chuan and to have the continuing benefit of his talents and leadership.'

janeng@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 1 Dec, 2008.