Professor Freddy Boey
President and University Distinguished Professor
Professor Freddy Boey Yin Chiang is President and Distinguished University Professor of City University of Hong Kong. He was previously Deputy President (I&E) at the National University of Singapore from January 2018 to December 2022, Provost (January 2011 – December 2017) and Chair of the School of Materials Science and Engineering (January 2004 – December 2010) at the Nanyang Technological University.
As the School Chair of the new school which started in 2000, Prof Boey transformed the school into a powerhouse of Materials Science in the world in research and education, ranking 6th in QS world subject ranking and 2nd in US News & World Report world ranking in Materials Science by 2016, with an outstanding reputation for generating start up technologies that can be commercialised. The school has continued to be ranked in the top three globally in Materials Science in recent years.
As Provost of the University, he went on to propel the university from 74th in the 2011 QS World University Rankings to 11th and No. 1 in Asia by 2017.
As Deputy President in the National University of Singapore, he transformed the university’s efforts in deep technology commercialisation, increasing the number of deep tech startups by 4X in the first three years, through the Graduate Research Innovation Program (GRIP), making it Singapore’s foremost deep tech start up program. This program has been designated a National Program in 2024.
Professor Boey was conferred Singapore’s highest Scientific Award, the President’s Science & Technology Medal for lifetime achievement, and the prestigious Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine Fellow award, both in 2013, for his biomedical research achievements. His research team also won the 2014 Singapore President’s Technology Award for using nanostructures with a novel drug delivery approach to combat blindness from glaucoma. As Provost, he built Singapore’s second Undergraduate Medical School, partnering with Imperial College London, for which he received the 2016 Singapore National Day Public Administration Gold Medal. He has also been conferred Honorary Doctorate from Loughborough University, and Honorary professorships from the University of Indonesia, Nanjing Postal and Telecom University and Nanjing Technological University.