IIT-Madras Distinguished Alumnus, Professor Subra Suresh, named President of NTU Singapore

Chennai: Professor Subra Suresh, a distinguished alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology Madras and a native of Chennai, has been chosen as the fourth President of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Prof. Suresh will begin his presidency on 1 January 2018, when the current President Prof. Andersson retires.

NTU Singapore is one of the world’s leading universities. In its QS World University Rankings this year, the Quacquarelli Symonds group placed NTU 11th in the world and the best in Asia.

Prof. Suresh received his Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and he was facilitated with The Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Institute in 1997.

Prof. R. Nagarajan, Dean of International and Alumni Relations, IIT-Madras, said, “Subra Suresh is one among our 150 Distinguished Alumni, and it is no surprise given his record of accomplishments. I’m sure he’ll be replicate at NTU his successes at NSF and CMU. IIT Madras has close ties with NTU, and is in the process of formalizing a joint Ph.D. degree program. Subra’s arrival at NTU augurs well for future interactions and collaborations among our institutions”.

Prof. Suresh served as the ninth President of Carnegie Mellon University from July 1, 2013 until June 30, 2017.

An eight-member search committee chaired by Mr. Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman of the NTU Board of Trustees, unanimously selected Prof Suresh for the top role at NTU.

An eminent scientist, engineer and entrepreneur, Prof. Suresh was chosen in 2010 by then U.S. President Barack Obama to lead the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). He is also an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

He has a Master’s degree from Iowa State University, and has a Doctor of Science degree from MIT. Following postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he joined the faculty of engineering at Brown University in 1983, and was promoted to the position of Professor in 1989. He joined MIT in 1993 as the R.P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and served as head of MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering from 2000-2006.

Prof. Suresh was honoured with the Padma Shri Award in 2011 by then President of India, Ms. Pratibha Patil.