Lily Kong, Prof.
Singapore Management University
President
Biography
Professor Lily Kong is the fifth President of Singapore Management University (SMU), and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor. She was formerly Provost at SMU.
Before joining SMU, she was a faculty member at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Geography for nearly 25 years. She also held various senior management roles at the National University of Singapore, including Vice Provost (Education), Vice Provost (Academic Personnel), Vice President (University and Global Relations), Dean (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences), Dean, University Scholars Programme, and Director, Asia Research Institute.
Professor Kong’s research has been wide-ranging. Perhaps a golden thread that holds it all together is the focus on understanding social-cultural transformation in Asian cities. She has studied a wide range of phenomena: intercommunal (especially religious) relations, identities and social cohesion; cultural politics, cultural policies and cultural industries; creative economies, creative cities, and smart cities; natural and cultural heritages; and more.
Social and cultural transformations in Asian cities
| 1991 | PhD in Geography, University College London |
| 1988 | MA in Geography, National University of Singapore |
| 1986 | BA(Hons) in Geography (First Class), National University of Singapore |
An award-winning researcher and teacher, Professor Kong has received numerous international awards, including the Commonwealth Fellowship Award, the Fulbright Fellowship Award, the Robert Stoddard Award from the Association of American Geographers for her work in the geographies of religion, and the Victoria Medal from the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) for conspicuous merit in social, cultural and urban geographical research. In a global study by Stanford University (2020), Professor Kong was identified as among the world’s top 1% of scientists in the field of Geography. Professor Kong was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2006 and Public Service Star (Bintang Bakti Masyarakat) award in 2020 as part of Singapore’s National Day Awards. She was recognised in Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen list (2020), Forbes inaugural 50 over 50 (Asia 2022) and Tatler’s Asia’s Most Influential (2022). Professor Kong was inducted into Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame in 2022.
