INTERNATIONAL PANEL TO STUDY DIFFERENT MODELS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NUS BUONA VISTA

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INTERNATIONAL PANEL TO STUDY DIFFERENT MODELS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NUS BUONA VISTA

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has commissioned Professor Robert A. Brown, Provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to chair an International Panel to study suitable models for the establishment of NUS Buona Vista. The Panel will explore and recommend various ways to develop a research-intensive Science and Technology (S&T) institution in Singapore, including possible financial and human resource models that can ensure the optimal development and sustainability of such an institution.

2 The International Panel will seek the broadest range of views from all key stakeholders involved in furthering S&T research in Singapore. Professor Brown has just completed a 3-day visit to Singapore and has had preliminary discussions with these stakeholders including NUS, NTU, MTI, MINDEF, DSTA, EDB and A*STAR. MOE will next discuss with Professor Brown the composition of the International Panel, and follow up with its appointment in the near future. Background Information

3 The establishment of NUS Buona Vista as a research-intensive S&T 'niche' institution in our university sector was one of the recommendations by the Committee to Review the University Sector and Graduate Manpower Planning. The Committee envisages that NUS Buona Vista will have a vibrant research culture that will present a unique educational opportunity to those with a strong research inclination. The Government has accepted in-principle the Committee's recommendations on 28 May 2003, noting that NUS Buona Vista is still at a conceptual stage and will be studied further by MOE.

4 Professor Robert A. Brown has been a member of the International Academic Advisory Panel established by MOE since 1997. He has also worked closely with NUS and NTU, in his capacity as Provost of MIT, in the Singapore-MIT Alliance. His CV is enclosed.

Robert A. Brown is provost and the Warren K. Lewis Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He did his initial studies in chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (BS, 1973; MS 1975) and completed his Ph.D. in 1979 at the University of Minnesota. Professor Brown joined the faculty at MIT in 1979 and served as head of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 1989 to 1995 and as dean of the School of Engineering from 1996 to 1998. As provost he is responsible for the administration of the five schools and the numerous research laboratories and centers within the institution. He has responsibility, with the executive vice president, for budgetary planning for MIT. Professor Brown also oversees the operation of Lincoln Laboratory, a federally funded research and development corporation operated by MIT.

Professor Brown is active in research that focuses on the modeling of transport processes in materials processing systems, especially solidification phenomena and non-Newtonian fluid mechanics. He is co-author of over 250 papers in refereed journals and proceedings and has lectured widely on his research. He serves as an executive editor of The Journal of Chemical Engineering Science and is on the editorial board of several other journals.

He has received numerous awards and honors for his research contributions. These include the Allan P. Colburn Award (1986) and the Professional Progress Award (1997) from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Young Author Award from the American Association of Crystal Growth (1984) and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1983). He has been named to a dozen distinguished lectureships and was named a Distinguished Graduate of the School of Engineering of the University of Texas in 1992. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1991, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994, and the National Academy of Science in 2001.

Dr. Brown is active as an advisor to industry and other universities and serves on a number of national advisory boards. He lives in Winchester, Massachusetts with his wife Beverly and their two sons, Ryan and Keith.