NUS president Tan Eng Chye to step down end 2027, search for successor begins

SINGAPORE – The National University of Singapore (NUS) has started its search for its next president, as incumbent Tan Eng Chye’s current term will end in December 2027.

Tan, 65, will step down after 10 years at the helm.

He has expressed his wish not to seek an extension beyond his second five-year term, and will return to academia at NUS, according to an internal circular signed by the university’s board of trustees deputy chairman Leo Yip.

In a statement on Oct 21, NUS said that the board has formed a search committee chaired by Yip to identify Tan’s successor.

Supported by a global executive search firm, the committee will evaluate candidates from Singapore and abroad.

Former NUS president Tan Chorh Chuan is among the committee’s members, while Tan Eng Chye serves as its adviser.

In the circular, Yip credited Tan Eng Chye with advancing interdisciplinary education, strengthening research and expanding the university’s enterprise ecosystem. The board will work closely with him to ensure a smooth leadership transition, he added.

In a statement, Tan Eng Chye said NUS had been an important part of his life for more than 40 years, and he was deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve as its president.

“There is still important work ahead. I will continue to give my best until the end of my term in 2027 and look forward to passing the baton to my successor who will lead NUS into its next exciting chapter,” he said.

Tan Eng Chye became NUS’ fifth president in 2018. A mathematician by training, he graduated from NUS in 1985 and joined its mathematics department as a senior tutor that year. He obtained his doctorate from Yale University in 1989.

He spearheaded the launch of the College of Humanities and Sciences and College of Design and Engineering in 2021 for students to take common interdisciplinary modules. He also led the merging Yale-NUS with NUS’ University Scholars Programme to form NUS College.

He received the Meritorious Service Medal in 2024 and the President’s Science and Technology Medal in 2025.