In Memoriam: Passing of Dr Wee Cho Yaw, NTU Pro-Chancellor

Message from NTU President to the NTU community

I write to share news of the passing of our Pro-Chancellor Dr Wee Cho Yaw today. He was 95.

An accomplished banker, entrepreneur and community leader, Dr Wee was Chairman Emeritus and Honorary Adviser of United Overseas Bank (UOB), one of Asia's largest banks. He was a great advocate of education, philanthropy and community service.

Dr Wee has had a long association with NTU. The eminent banker, together with Wee Foundation and UOB, gifted $16 million to NTU Singapore over the years, in support of education and research advancement, financial assistance to students from disadvantaged backgrounds as well as grooming future leaders.

Former Chair of the Council of Nanyang University (1970 to 1980), he was appointed Pro-Chancellor of NTU in 2004. Dr Wee's efforts to support education at NTU included the establishment of the Wee Foundation Bursary Fund to support students in financial need, as well as the UOB Professorship in Banking and the Wee Cho Yaw Master of Science (Finance) Scholarship Fund at Nanyang Business School.

In 2015, as part of UOB's 80th anniversary, the bank launched the $50 million Wee Cho Yaw Future Leaders Award, to develop future leaders by providing tertiary education opportunities to NTU and NUS students from less privileged backgrounds.

Dr Wee received numerous accolades for his business achievements and support of community welfare, education, and the business community. He received the Distinguished Service Order (2011) and Public Service Star (1974) from the Singapore government for his outstanding contributions to the nation, including as pro-chancellor of NTU.

For his distinguished contributions to NTU and the community, he was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University in 2014.

We join the Wee family in mourning the loss of Dr Wee Cho Yaw. Those who have had the opportunity to interact with him remember him as a generous man who was always willing to hear out young people and give them his advice.

Dr Wee’s legacy will live on through the innumerable lives he has touched at NTU and beyond.

Regards,

Ho Teck Hua
NTU President