Indonesian tycoon's family donates $5m to business school INSEAD

Indonesia's Soeryadjaya family has donated $5 million to business school INSEAD for its new Leadership Development Centre building.

The building will open at its Asia campus along North Buona Vista Road on Jan 2015.

In addition, the main amphitheatre of the new building will be named 'The William and Lily Soeryadjaya Amphitheatre', in honour of the late William Soeryadjaya and his wife Lily.

The opening of the Leadership Development Centre will signal a new phase in INSEAN's Asia expansion, which will increase the amount of students as well as personnel on site in Singapore.

William Soeryadjaya founded Astra International in 1957, which is heavily involved in the automotive industry, among others. The conglomorate had a net worth of US$15.137 billion (S$20 billion) as of 2012. He died in 2010 at the age of 87.

Said Edward Soeryadjaya, Willam Soeryadjaya's eldest son: "Our beloved father was an entrepreneur with great vision. Above all, he valued people.

"In my late father's words, transforming people's lives, through knowledge and skills investment, is a must, and a platform to creatively think big, do big and grow big."

Professor Henri-Claude de Bettignies, Emeritus Professor of Asian Business at INSEAD, said: "INSEAD's relationship with the William Soeryadjaya family dates right back to the 1970s when INSEAD was one of the first international business schools to expand into Asia.

"The new Leadership Development Centre will allow us to continue growing in this region, providing business leaders with world-class teaching and global expertise."

jasonsoh@sph.com.sg