Professor Lily Kong is the fifth President of Singapore Management University (SMU), the first Singaporean to lead the University, and the first Singaporean woman to serve as President of any university in Singapore. She was previously Provost of SMU from 2015 to 2018 and, before joining SMU, held senior leadership roles at the National University of Singapore.
A social and cultural geographer by training, Professor Kong is internationally recognised for her work on urban transformation and social and cultural change in Asian cities.
As President, she has led SMU through institutional growth and renewal. Building on SMU2025, she advanced the University’s strategic priorities in Digital Transformation, Sustainable Living and Growth in Asia, while strengthening SMU’s position as a distinctive city university at the nexus of management, social sciences and technology. Under her leadership, SMU launched new colleges, research institutes, overseas centres and strategic partnerships, while expanding enrolment, research funding, industry engagement and philanthropic support.
In 2025, as SMU marked its 25th anniversary, Professor Kong launched the University’s refreshed Vision and Mission, reaffirming its aspiration to be Asia’s premier global city university — rooted in Singapore, connected to Asia, and committed to creating meaningful impact. She has since set out SMU2030: Shaping Impact, Transforming Lives, which focuses the University’s contributions across four domains: Human Capital Development, Knowledge Creation, Economic Development, and Social and Community Life.
Beyond SMU, Professor Kong contributes to public, civic and international advisory work. She has served on Singapore’s Public Service Commission since 2009 and holds leadership and advisory roles across national and international institutions.
An award-winning academic, Professor Kong is a Fellow of the British Academy. Her honours include the Victoria Medal from the Royal Geographical Society, the Robert Stoddard Award from the American Association of Geographers, the CASE Asia-Pacific Leadership Award, the Business Times-UOB Sustainability Impact Award’s Impact Leader of the Year, and an honorary degree from Loughborough University.
She has been recognised in Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen list, Forbes’ inaugural 50 Over 50: Asia and Tatler Asia’s Most Influential, and inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame. Her national honours include the Public Administration Medal (Silver), Public Service Star and Ministry of National Development Medallion.
For a list of Professor Kong’s op-eds, please visit:
https://www.smu.edu.sg/about/leadership/president
Qualifications
- PhD in Geography, University College London, 1991
- MA in Geography, National University of Singapore, 1988
- BA(Hons) in Geography (First Class), National University of Singapore, 1986
Area of Specialisation
- Urban transformations
- Social and cultural change in Asian cities