THUWAL, Saudi Arabia,
May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire-iReach/ --
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has
appointed Dr. Tony Chan as its third
president, to assume office on September 1,
2018. Chan joins KAUST after nearly a decade as president of
The Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology (HKUST).
KAUST Board Chairman H.E. Khalid
Al-Falih said of the appointment, "We are delighted to
welcome Dr. Chan as the next president of KAUST. His outstanding
record as a leader in higher education and innovation will help us
accomplish our ambitious goals in this important time of national
transformation. With Dr. Chan's leadership, I am confident that
KAUST will be well positioned to contribute in a meaningful way to
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
achieving its Vision 2030 objectives, which are aimed at addressing
global challenges and the betterment of humanity as well as
national challenges."
"Leading an institution like KAUST is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity, and I look forward to playing a role in not only the
next chapter of the university, but in the new era of innovation
for Saudi Arabia," said Chan. "My
deep history with KAUST and in higher education has allowed me to
see firsthand the significant way the university has influenced the
global research agenda, and I believe we are only at the beginning
of a bright future."
Chan has been a close partner of KAUST since 2007, when he
hosted the founding team of the University for meetings in
Washington, DC as Assistant
Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation. He has been a
member of the KAUST Board of Trustees since 2011 and, while he was
the President of HKUST, he hosted the Board of Trustees for a
meeting in Hong Kong.
During his tenure at HKUST, Chan has driven major advancements,
including enhancing the university's global visibility and
reputation; increasing international recruitment and exchange;
nearly tripling the number of endowed professorships; and
championing the use of new technology in education, including
placing HKUST as the first Asian university to offer Massive Online
Open Courses (MOOCs). Under Chan's leadership, HKUST has become
widely known as one of the leading universities in the world,
rapidly increasing its global and regional rankings to 30th in the
QS World's Top 1000 Universities, 12th in Global University
Employability Ranking, and 2nd in the Times Higher Education Top
Young University Rankings.
Before joining HKUST, Chan was Assistant Director of the
Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate at the US National
Science Foundation and the Dean of Physical Sciences at
UCLA. Chan's professional field is
computational mathematics with interests including image processing
and computer vision, physical circuit design and computational
brain mapping. He is a member of the US National Academy of
Engineering and a Fellow of AAAS, IEEE, and SIAM. He has mentored
over 35 PhD students and 25 Postdocs. He received his BS and MS
degrees in Engineering from Caltech and his PhD in Computer Science
from Stanford University.
For Chan's full biography and curriculum vitae, please
click here.
Media Contact: Michelle
Ponto, King Abdullah University of Science and technology,
966 12 808 3234, michelle.ponto@kaust.edu.sa
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SOURCE King Abdullah University of Science and Technology