NUS Honorary Degrees conferred on Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and public service leader Peter Ho

The National University of Singapore (NUS) conferred honorary degrees on two outstanding leaders: Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon of the Supreme Court of Singapore; and Mr Peter Ho, Senior Advisor to the Centre for Strategic Futures and Senior Fellow in the Civil Service College.

The honorary degrees were conferred during the Main Ceremony of NUS Commencement 2024, presided by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of the Republic of Singapore and NUS Chancellor. The Honorary Degree is the University’s highest form of recognition for outstanding individuals who have rendered distinguished service and had a great impact in Singapore and globally.

Chief Justice Menon, who is an NUS alumnus, was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws, in recognition of his distinguished leadership and outstanding contributions to the practice and adjudication of law in Singapore and the legal profession locally, regionally and internationally.

Mr Peter Ho was presented with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters, a tribute to his visionary leadership and distinguished services to Singapore in building a future-ready Public Service and advancing Singapore’s interests in various areas such as defence, foreign affairs, security, urban planning and governance, as well as his sterling and wide-ranging contributions towards education and NUS.

Chief Justice Menon and Mr Ho were joined by 261 graduates from the Faculty of Science, and 207 graduates from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, who received their degrees at the Main Ceremony today.

The NUS Class of 2024 comprises 15,958 graduates: 7,811 students will receive Bachelor’s degrees and 8,147 will receive graduate degrees. A total of 31 ceremonies will be held at the NUS University Cultural Centre over a period of 11 days, from 11 to 21 July 2024. NUS Commencement 2024 will conclude with the Commencement Dinner, which will be held on Friday, 26 July 2024.

NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said, “It is with great pride that we confer honorary degrees on two illustrious trailblazers – Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Mr Peter Ho – who have made an indelible mark on their respective fields, and contributed significantly to the advancement of society both in Singapore and beyond. Their commitment to excellence and exceptional dedication to serving others will be an inspiration to the NUS community as we celebrate their distinguished accomplishments and impact today.”

Addressing the Class of 2024, Prof Tan said, “NUS has prepared every one of you well for the road ahead through our rigorous intellectual and interdisciplinary training, deep domain expertise, and experiential learning experiences, as well as being imbued with the qualities of resilience and innovation. It is therefore my firm belief that our graduates have the skills, mindset, and personal traits needed to create strong impact, adapt, and thrive in this fast-paced and ever-evolving environment. I encourage all of you to go forth with purpose, be architects of change, champions of justice and trailblazers of innovation as you shape the future of Singapore.”

This year, 140 students will be graduating as the pioneer cohort of 4 programmes:

• Master of Science (Engineering Design and Innovation)
• Master of Music Leadership
• Master of Science (Robotics)
• Master of Science (Sustainable and Green Finance)

2024 Honorary Doctor of Laws Recipient – Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon

An NUS Law alumnus from the Class of 1986, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon has had a stellar legal career over three decades in private practice and public service.

After graduating from NUS with a Bachelor of Law (First Class Honours), he began his legal career with Shook Lin & Bok, and later became a partner at the firm. He co-founded WongPartnership in 1992, and later in 1995, he helped to build another firm, Rajah and Tann. He moved to international law firm, Jones Day, in 2003, and later returned to Rajah and Tann, where he became managing partner in 2009. In 2010, Chief Justice Menon became Singapore’s sixth Attorney-General. By 2012, he was a Justice of the Supreme Court and became Chief Justice a few months after that.

As Attorney-General, Chief Justice Menon implemented important advances in Singapore’s rules of criminal procedure, and especially in the law governing disclosure of evidence to defendants. As Chief Justice and President of the Singapore Academy of Law, he introduced new rigorous training programmes for practitioners. As part of the Steering Committee for the Legal Education Curriculum Reform project, he initiated major reforms in legal education, which significantly enhanced the skill-sets of future lawyers. By these means, Chief Justice Menon has championed the cause of making Singapore a leading provider of legal services, locally and internationally.

As a practitioner, Chief Justice Menon was a noted expert across multiple fields, including commercial litigation, insolvency, and construction law. He was also an internationally-recognised arbitrator, sought after both at home and abroad. In 2012, he was appointed to the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration based at the Peace Palace in the Hague, reflecting his prominence in this field.

As a judge, Chief Justice Menon’s judgments have helped to shape Singapore’s private law into probably the purest common-law jurisdiction in the world, a jurisdiction that is increasingly significant overseas.

Please refer to Annex 1 for the Citation for Chief Justice Menon.

2024 Honorary Doctor of Letters Recipient – Mr Peter Ho

Mr Peter Ho is currently Chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore, Chairman of the National Gallery Singapore, Chairman of the Social Science Research Council, Senior Advisor to the Centre for Strategic Futures in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Senior Fellow in the Civil Service College, amongst others.

Over the course of his sterling career, Mr Ho has served with distinction in many different roles. When he retired from the Singapore Administrative Service in 2010 after a career in the Public Service spanning more than 34 years, he was Head of Civil Service, concurrent with his other appointments of Permanent Secretary (Foreign Affairs), Permanent Secretary (National Security & Intelligence Coordination), and Permanent Secretary (Special Duties) in the Prime Minister’s Office. Before that, he was Permanent Secretary (Defence). He was also the inaugural Chairman of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

Mr Ho continues to contribute to the public sector in various capacities after his retirement. Our education sector has benefitted greatly from his service and leadership, particularly here at NUS. He was a member of the NUS Board of Trustees from 2011 to 2023, and continues to be a member of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Governing Board, and the Board of Governors of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University.

Mr Ho has many areas of expertise, from governance, urban development and scenario planning to strategic futures. After more than four decades of stellar service in the public sector, he has left an indelible mark on Singapore’s Public Service, policymaking and governance.