|
THE Singapore University of Technology and Design's board of trustees yesterday announced the appointment of Professor Thomas Magnanti as its founding president.
Prof Magnanti, 64, is one of 14 institute professors at MIT - the highest title awarded to a faculty member - and the former dean of MIT's School of Engineering.
A member of the US National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Prof Magnanti graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from Syracuse University, and then took Masters degrees in statistics and mathematics, as well as a PhD in operations research from Stanford University.
During his three-year appointment term with SU, Prof Magnanti will be on leave from the MIT faculty.
Mr Philip Ng, chief executive officer of Far East Organisation and chairman of SU's board of trustees, said the search for the university's founding president was 'a lengthy process'.
He said: "In our discussions with MIT, Prof Magnanti's name was put up, and we were excited because he is a well-known personality in Singapore.
"We felt he had the credentials, the passion and the understanding of what we want to achieve."
Prof Magnanti was the founding director of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart), a research enterprise established by MIT in partnership with the National Research Foundation of Singapore.
He was also a contributing faculty member and member of the governing board of the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA).
Other members of SU's board of trustees include Mr Cavinder Bull, director of Drew and Napier LLC, Mr Patrick Daniel, editor-in-chief of the English and Malay Newspapers Division at Singapore Press Holdings, and Mr Choo Chiau Beng, chief executive officer of Keppel Corporation Limited.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
| 
