Professor Choon Fong Shih
President
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Professor Shih has served as Founding President and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at KAUST since December 1, 2008. Previously,
he was president and vice-chancellor of National University of Singapore.
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Professor Choon Fong Shih, an accomplished mechanical engineer and distinguished academic leader, became the founding President of King Abdullah University
of Science and Technology in December 2008.
Professor Shih joined KAUST after nine years as President and Vice-Chancellor of National University of Singapore (NUS). In that position, he led the
transformation of NUS into a highly regarded research institution and promoted the university's global profile by building research and educational partnerships
with premier institutions around the world.
Professor Shih was a key driver for the formation of the International Alliance of Research Universities, a group that includes 10 of the world's leading
research universities on four continents. He is chairman emeritus of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), a consortium of 37 leading research
universities modeled after the Association of American Universities. In addition, Professor Shih chaired the Governing Board of the APRU World Institute,
which focuses on scientific, social, and economic issues of global importance.
As a researcher, Professor Shih has made significant contributions in nonlinear fracture mechanics and computational methods for fracture analyses.
With about 150 publications in leading scientific journals, Professor Shih is one of the world's most frequently cited engineering researchers, according
to the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). His honors include the George Irwin Medal from the American Society for Testing and Materials and the Ted
Belytschko Applied Mechanics Award from the American Society for Mechanical Engineers. Professor Shih received the decoration Chevalier in the French Order
of the Legion of Honor, as well as honorary doctorates from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, Waseda University in Japan, and Brown University
in the United States.
Professor Shih is a foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He has been a consultant to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
among others. He is a member of the MIT Corporation Visiting Committee for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Professor Shih served on a number of national-level committees in Singapore. He was the founding president of the Materials Research Society of Singapore,
a founding member of the Singapore International Foundation, and served on the Economic Review Committee tasked with developing wide-ranging strategies for
re-making Singapore.
He earned a professional diploma in Engineering at Singapore Polytechnic, followed by a master's degree and doctorate in Applied Science from Harvard
University in the United States.