Tony Tan Keng Yam is the current and seventh president of Singapore
@Seventh President of Singapore, Facts and Life
Tony Tan Keng Yam is the current and seventh president of Singapore
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He is married to Mary Chee Bee Kiang and they have four children - three sons and one daughter.
He modernized standards for education in his country by making significant changes to Singapore's educational system, including the requirement that students had ten years of primary schooling before moving on to higher or career-based schooling.
He has contributed to several institutions and organizations including his alma maters - the Singapore Dance Theatre, the Singapore Computer Society, SJI International, among others.
Tony Tan Keng Yam was born on February 7, 1940 in Singapore to Tan Seng Hwee and Jessie Lim Neo Swee.
His studied at St Patrick's School and St Joseph's Institution in Singapore. Therafter, he attended the University of Singapore with a scholarship and earned his undergraduate degree in physics.
He acquired his Master's degree in operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After that, he obtained his doctorate degree in applied mathematics from the University of Adelaide.
After finishing his higher education, he went on to teach math and physics at the University of Singapore in 1964.
Five years later, he took a position with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) where he worked for ten years.
His political career began in 1979 when he became a member of parliament and soon after was appointed a Senior Minister of State of Education.
In 1980, he joined the Cabinet of Singapore and served in several positions separately during his time in the Cabinet, including the Minister for Trade and Industry, Minister for Finance, Minister for Education and Minister for Health. He made some of his most important contributions during his time as the Minister for Education during which he made many changes to the educational system.
He oversaw the merger of Singapore University and Nanyang University to form the National University of Singapore in 1980.
In 1988, he was presented the National Trades Union Congress Medal of Honour for his work on elevating and preserving the economic status of Singapore during his time as Minister for Trade and Industry.
He was awarded the National University of Singapore Eminent Alumni Award in 2005 for his contributions to the institution.
Most recently, his leadership and service was honored with a medal from the Foreign Policy Association in 2011.