Edvantage - Walking the talk

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Walking the talk

Lee U-Wen | The Business Times | Mon Feb 20 2012

Arnoud De Meyer, president of the Singapore Management University, is an ideas man, and he's fully committed to fostering a culture of innovation among Singaporean students and institutions.

IF there's one thing that Arnoud De Meyer wants to achieve during his tenure as president of the Singapore Management University (SMU), it's to make sure that the young varsity is renowned - not just in Singapore but around the world - for its research and innovation.

Though the 57-year-old Belgian's glittering academic career spanning nearly three decades has taken him to six different countries, he remains fully conscious of the enormity of the task that stands before him in Singapore.

"No university in the top 20 in the world is known for its education. They are known for their ideas," the management studies scholar tells BT during a recent hour-long interview at his office. "The quality of a Cambridge or Harvard or a Stanford is due to the quality of its ideas, which are then used in its teaching."

He goes on to talk a little more about Cambridge, an institution he has a close connection with given the four years he spent as director of its Judge Business School before his major move to take up the top SMU job in September 2010.

Cambridge may be highly regarded for its teaching strength, but more often than not, the 803-year-old university has gained worldwide recognition because of the outstanding research it has produced consistently over time and the impact it has made on others.

"In the end, you know Cambridge because of (Isaac) Newton, their Nobel Prize winners.

You know the university for its ideas, and the ideas are able to stimulate the students," says Professor De Meyer.

Innovation is in this bachelor's blood and a subject he has devoted almost his entire career to.

After completing his masters and entering the workforce, he returned to his alma mater, the University of Ghent, to pursue a doctorate in management with the sole purpose of learning how to innovate better in large organisations.