SMU Welcomes three new members to its Board of Trustees in January 2022

Published on 27 January 2022

Singapore, 27 January 2022 (Thursday) - The Singapore Management University is pleased to announce that we have appointed three new members to its Board of Trustees with effect from 12 January 2022. Their appointment will be for an initial term of three years.

The three are:

(i) Mr Piyush Gupta (Group CEO, DBS Bank);

(ii) Ms Deborah Ho (Country Head, Singapore/Regional Head, South East Asia, Blackrock); and

(iii) Ms Melissa Khoo (Deputy Secretary (Higher Education and Skills), MOE).

Mr Piyush Gupta has been Chief Executive Officer and Director of DBS Group since 2009. Piyush is Vice-Chairman of the Institute of International Finance, Washington, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Executive Committee. In addition, he is a member of Singapore’s Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data and Bretton Woods Committee - Advisory Council. He also sits on the boards of Enterprise Singapore, Singapore’s National Research Foundation, and the Singapore’s Council for Board Diversity. Piyush is a term trustee of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA). Piyush was named one of the world’s top 100 best-performing chief executives in Harvard Business Review - 2019 edition of "The CEO 100". In 2020, he was awarded the Public Service Star by the President of Singapore for his meritorious services to the nation. He was named Global Indian of the Year by the Economic Times in 2021, Singapore Business Awards' Outstanding Chief Executive of the Year in 2016, and Singapore Business Leader of the Year by CNBC in 2014. His profile can be found here.

Ms Deborah Ho is regional head of the South East Asian business for BlackRock and country head of BlackRock Singapore. Deborah has 30 years of experience in Investment Banking and Asset Management and is on the investment committee of the LKY Fund for Bilingualism. She is a Board member of the Singapore Land Transport Authority and sits on the Advisory Board for the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics at the Singapore Management University. Deborah was most recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Markets Media Group in the 2021 Women in Finance Asia Awards for her contribution to female talent development in the Finance Industry. Her profile can be found here.

Ms Melissa Khoo is the Deputy Secretary (Higher Education and Skills) in Singapore’s Ministry of Education and currently oversees the development and implementation of education policies in tertiary and continuing education. Melissa had previously held leadership roles in the Ageing Planning Office (Ministry of Health), the Strategic Planning and Futures branch in PMO Strategy Group, and the Institute for Public Sector Leadership at the Civil Service College. She served in the Ministry of Education from 2006-2010, and has done stints in the private sector with the Singapore Exchange (SGX), and Shell Singapore’s Downstream Management Consultancy. Melissa currently sits on the Board of Trustees for Singapore University of Social Sciences, the governing board of Yale-NUS College and the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) board. She also chairs the Board of the National Institute of Early Childhood Development. Her profile can be found here.

Separately, Mr Lai Chung Han (Permanent Secretary, MOE) has stepped down from the Board of Trustees with the conclusion of his term on 11 January 2022. We would like to thank Mr Lai for his contributions during his term of service.

The Board is chaired by Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings Limited and currently comprises 20 eminent business leaders, academics, entrepreneurs, and professionals from the public service and private sectors. The full list of Trustees can be found on the SMU website and in the Annex of the enclosed Media Release.