NTU President Professor Subra Suresh has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Southampton in recognition of his research and scholarly achievements.
In the citation read on stage during his conferment in 26 July, Prof Suresh was lauded as a renowned engineer and eminent scientist with an outstanding record of academic achievement and public service.
Established in 1952, the University of Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of 24 research-intensive universities in Britain. Notable among its honorary degree recipients are the Duchess of Cornwall, Nobel Laureate and astrophysicist Professor Brian Schmidt, the inventor of the Worldwide Web Professor Tim Berners-Lee, and renowned broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Southampton, said, “We are delighted to award an Honorary Doctorate to Professor Suresh. His outstanding record of academic achievement and public service is to be celebrated.
“We welcome Professor Suresh’s recent appointment as President of NTU, a strategic partner of the University of Southampton, and look forward to strengthening our close relationship with him and NTU for many years to come.”
Prof Suresh said, “I am honoured and humbled by this recognition. The work done at Southampton University has had a significant global impact in many different fields, and I am pleased to be affiliated with Southampton as an honorary graduate and as President of NTU.”
Appointed in January as NTU President, Prof Suresh holds 15 honorary doctorate degrees from institutions in the US, England, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, India, Russia and China. Besides the University of Southampton, his other honours this year include honorary degrees from Northwestern University in the USA and Mangalore University in India, the Brown Engineering Leadership Medal from Brown University’s School of Engineering, as well as election as Honorary Fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford University.
Prof Suresh has also been elected a fellow or honorary member of all the major materials research societies in the US and India, and to membership in 15 science or engineering academies around the world. He holds the distinction of being a member of all three National Academies in the USA, of sciences, engineering and medicine.
Southampton and NTU joined hands to launch The Photonics Institute in 2014 to establish Singapore as a powerhouse in photonics and optics research. Southampton, UK, is home to the Optoelectronics Research Centre, renowned for being the birth place of the ubiquitous fibre-optic Internet now found in most homes.
Housed in NTU Singapore, The Photonics Institute focuses on research involving light technology such as those found in fibre-optic cables, lasers and consumer products such as DVD/Blu-ray devices or remote control devices.
