September 2015 | Issue 10
LKCSB Bi-annual E-newsletter
Dean’s Message
Greetings!
I hope you’ve all had a wonderful start to the new academic year. There have been a few changes at the Lee Kong Chian School of
Business (LKCSB), and I’d like to bring you up to speed as best I can. It’s been eight months since I joined LKCSB as the Dean, and I’m
delighted to say that the LKCSB family has been welcoming and helpful from the very beginning. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank
the faculty, our professional staff and our students for making me feel right at home. I look forward to working together with everyone as we
strive to serve our students and our broader community.
In this issue’s Feature, we celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the Lee Foundation’s Landmark Gift to LKCSB. Read more on Dr Lee Kong
Chian, the history of the gift, and how it was that the school came to be called the Lee Kong Chian School of Business.
Our faculty make us proud! Congratulations to our excellent faculty for the recognition of their hard work by way of numerous
Research Awards. Their achievements can only be a reflection of their dedication towards making LKCSB “the best Asian
business school” – to embrace our Asian identity, to embed ourselves in the community and region, and to make the boundaries
of our school more porous. Check out the direction of their work under LKCSB Research News.
Not forgetting the heart of any educational institution, our students have been busy winning accolades, not only for LKCSB
and by extension SMU, but also Singapore. We are proud to feature our young athletes that have done us proud at the
recent SEA Games under the Student Clubs and Students’ Achievements section.
Finally, I am pleased to report that one of our LKCSB alumnus, Kaushal Dugar, was selected out of 198 nominees
to have the honour of being accepted into AACSBs’ inaugural “Influential Leaders” class. Find out more about the
‘Influential Leaders from AACSB Business Schools Challenge’ and how Kaushal stood out amongst the competition
in the Alumni Corner.
As always, keep up the great work you do!
Issue Feature
Professor Gerard George
Dean
Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the
Lee Foundation Landmark Gift to LKCSB
School Highlights
In 2004, the Lee Foundation made a gift of S$50 million to the Lee Kong
Chian School of Business in support of the school’s mission to create
business knowledge, and nurture keen minds to lead organisations
and serve society. A decade on, we commemorate “philanthropy’s
finest hour”, celebrate the Gift’s far-reaching impact, and pay tribute
to one of Singapore’s pioneer businessmen, community leaders, and
philanthropists – Dr Lee Kong Chian.
>> Read More
Quick Links
Issue Feature
School Highlights
Alumni Corner
Faculty Honours, Promotions and Appointments
>>More
LKCSB Research News
>>More
Postgraduate Programmes Updates
>>More
Student Clubs and Students’ Achievements
>>More
LKCSB Ranks Highly in the Financial Times (FT)
Global Masters in Finance Pre & Post-experience
Rankings 2015
>>More
Alumni Corner
LKCSB Alumnus Receives AACSB’s Inaugural
Influential Leaders Award
>>More
September 2015 | Issue 10
LKCSB Bi-annual E-newsletter
Issue Feature
Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Lee Foundation
Landmark Gift to LKCSB
matching grant on the basis of 3:1, bringing the total sum to S$200
million (approximately US$120 million). At that time, this combined
contribution was the largest ever to a tertiary institution in Singapore,
and one of only a handful of gifts made to any university worldwide that
is over US$100 million.
Photo: Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Lee Kong Chian
In recognition of the generous gift, the building which houses the School
was named in perpetuity as the Lee Kong Chian Building. The gift also
enabled the establishment of two significant initiatives: the Lee Kong
Chian Scholars’ Programme, which provides up to 50 scholarships per
year; and the Lee Kong Chian Fund for Excellence, which is dedicated
to research and to raising the bar of excellence, not just at LKCSB, but
for SMU.
A famous philanthropist and a firm believer in the value of
education, the late Dr Lee Kong Chian was popularly known as the
“Rubber and Pineapple King”, and widely recognised as one of the
richest men in Southeast Asia. In 1952, at a time when charity was
highly dependent on the rise and fall of business fortunes, the Lee
Foundation was established as a philanthropic institution. For the
last 40 years, the Foundation has supported a variety of causes;
more than half its support goes towards projects in education.
In celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Landmark Gift, LKCSB
has stepped up in its efforts to educate not just our students, but also
the public on the history of this great man, through a Commemoration
Wall featured prominently at LKCSB’s Level 1 lobby, as well as
a website featuring more details of the history of Dr Lee, the Lee
Foundation, significant milestones in LKCSB’s history and reflections
from numerous beneficiaries of his gift.
In 2004, the Lee Foundation’s gift of S$50 million to Singapore
Management University (SMU) opened a whole new chapter
for its School of Business. In response to the Lee Foundation’s
exceptional contribution, the Singapore Government provided a
We warmly invite all to peruse the website and enjoy the Reflection
Videos. Please click here.
Photographs Courtesy of SMU’s Office of Corporate Communication and Marketing
Quick Links
Home Page
School Highlights
School Highlights
Alumni Corner
Faculty Honours, Promotions and Appointments
Honours and Achievements
LKCSB is proud to congratulate:
Dean Professor Gerard
GEORGE on being
conferred the Fellowship of
the City & Guilds of London
Institute by the Council of the
City and Guilds of London
Institute (City & Guilds)
Professor Benedict
KOH on receiving
the Provost Award for
Management Practice
2015
Professor
Srinivas REDDY
on receiving the
Teaching Excellence
in SMU Executive
Development Award
2015
Professor YANG Kum
Khiong on receiving the
Public Administration
Medal (Silver) during
the 2015 National Day
Awards
Associate
Professor Mark
CHONG on
receiving the
Excellent Teacher
Award 2015
Associate Professor
Kapil TULI on being
conferred the Lee Kuan
Yew Fellowship for
Research Excellence
Assistant
Professor Yuehua
TANG on being
conferred the DS
Lee Foundation
Fellowship
Assistant Professor
GENG Xuesong on
receiving the Most
Promising Teacher
Award 2014
Assistant
Professor TEE
Chyng Wen on
receiving the Most
Promising Teacher
Award 2014
Senior Lecturer ANG
Ser Keng on receiving
the Teaching Excellence
in Postgraduate
Professional
Programmes Award
2015
September 2015 | Issue 10
LKCSB Bi-annual E-newsletter
School Highlights
Faculty Promotions & Appointments
LKCSB would like to congratulate the following faculty on their promotions and new
appointments:
Promotion to Full Professor
Administrative Appointments
Philip ZERRILLO
Deputy Dean,
Programmes
Lieven DEMEESTER
Associate Dean,
MBA Programmes
Toru YOSHIKAWA
Professor of Strategic
Management
Annie KOH
Professor of Finance
(Practice)
Shantanu
BHATTACHARYA
Academic Director,
Doctor of Innovation
and DBA programmes
Richard SMITH
Academic Director,
MSc in Management
ONG Siow Heng
Professor of
Corporate
Communication
(Education)
Gregor HALFF
Professor of
Corporate
Communication
(Practice)
Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure
Michael
BASHSHUR
Associate
Professor of
Organisational
Behaviour and
Human Resources
Onur
BOYABATLI
Associate
Professor of
Operations
Management
FU Fangjian
Associate
Professor of
Finance
Reddi KOTHA
Associate
Professor
of Strategic
Management
WANG Rong
Associate
Professor of
Finance
Quick Links
Home Page
Issue Feature
Research News
Alumni Corner
Research Awards
Awardees: Assistant Professor of Finance Gennaro BERNILE,
together with Vineet Bhagwat and P. Raghavendra Rau
Awards: Ig Nobel Management Prize; Best Paper Award at the 2015
International Finance and Banking Society Meeting
Project/Paper: “What doesn’t kill you will only make you more riskloving: Early-life disasters and CEO behavior“
Awardees: Assistant Professor of Finance Gennaro BERNILE,
together with Assistant Professor of Finance Hu Jianfeng and
Assistant Professor of Finance Tang Yuehua
Award: Best Paper Award at the Northern Finance Association (NFA)
2014 Meetings
Project/Paper: “Can information be locked up? Privately informed
trading ahead of macro-news announcements”
Awardee: Assistant Professor of Finance HUANG Dashan
Award: Emerald Best Paper Award at the China Finance Review
International Conference 2014
Project/Paper: “Investor sentiment aligned: a powerful predictor of
stock returns”
Awardees: Assistant Professor of Finance HUANG Dashan,
together with PhD in Business (Finance) graduate Jiang Fuwei,
Associate Professor of Finance Tu Jun and Visiting Professor of
Finance Zhou Guofu
Award: Best Paper Award at the International Conference on
Corporate Finance and Capital Market 2014
Project/Paper: “Cost Growth and Stock Returns”
Awardee: Associate Professor of Finance FU Fangjian
Award: First Class Award at the Chicago Quantitative Alliance Asian
Meetings 2014
Project/Paper: “Do Underwriters Compete on IPO Pricing?”
Awardees: Professor of Marketing Srinivas REDDY, together with
Christopher Dula and Adina Wong
Award: Winning Case at 2014 EFMD Case Writing Competition
Project/Paper: “Gillette’s “Shave India Movement”: Razor Sharp
against the Stubble?”
Awardees: Associate Professor of Finance TU Jun, together with
Chin-Han Chiang, Wei Dai, Harrison Hong, and Jianqing Fan
Award: Best Paper Award in Investments at the 2015 FMA European
Conference
Project/Paper: “When everyone misses on the same side: Debiased
earnings surprises and stock returns”
Awardee: Associate Professor of Corporate Communication
Susheela VARGHESE
Award: COMM Prix Award (Academic Case Studies) at the 2014
Global Alliance World Public Relations Forum
Project/Paper: “Boosting babies: Singapore’s drive to raise its birth
rate”
School Highlights
Awardee: Assistant Professor of Operations Management Helen ZHOU
Award: Best Paper Award Honorable Mention at the 2014 CSAME
(The Chinese Scholars Association for Management Science and
Engineering)
Project/Paper: “Merchant Management of Electricity Surpluses:
Storage vs. Disposal”
September 2015 | Issue 10
LKCSB Bi-annual E-newsletter
Awardees: Associate Professor of Marketing Kapil TULI,
together with Christopher Dula
Award: Winning Case at 2014 EFMD Case Writing Competition
Project/Paper: “Jungle Beer: An Entrepreneur’s Journey”
Quick Links
Home Page
Issue Feature
Alumni Corner
Postgraduate Programmes Updates
Student Clubs and
Students’ Achievements
SAF Warrior Scholarship Graduates
Cognitare Wins Big at Case Competitions
Team Cognitare (From left to right: Bay Jin Cheng Justin, Colin
Chng Min Kiat, Club Advisor Prof Ma Kheng Min, Feng Luwei Chris
and Vedant Daga) brought back the top honours from the inaugural
Audi and Robert Walters Global Business Case Challenge 2015.
SMU and SAF have collaborated on a scholarship
to recognise and reward Singapore’s military
personnel for their contribution to our nation.
The SAF Warrior Scholarship is intended as a
partnership in talent development for the nation,
aiming to equip retiring SAF military servicemen
with advanced knowledge and skills to help them
successfully transit from military service to a
second career.
Officially launched in January 2014, the
programme offers retiring SAF personnel bondfree scholarships in 20 of SMU’s postgraduate
programmes. On 15 July 2015, 10 SAF Officers
became the inaugural batch of SWS scholars to
be conferred their postgraduate degrees, 6 of
which are LKCSB graduates.
Professor Philip Zerrillo, SMU Dean of
Postgraduate Professional Programmes,
commended the SAF officers “who
brought with them their experiences,
their past histories, their knowledge,
their integrity, their discipline, their effort
that … provides a unique (and) magical
experience.”
“The one thing we’ve come to expect
from this group is the integrity and the
ethics and the morals that you brought
to our group,” said Professor Zerrillo.
For more information, click here.
Photograph Courtesy of SMU Centre for
Management Practice
Columbia Threadneedle Awards 2015
Leading active investment manager, Columbia
Threadneedle Investments, in partnership with
the Singapore Management University (SMU)
and Cass Business School (Cass), part of
City University London, has announced the
Columbia Threadneedle Investment Award
2015 winners. To participate, students were
required to write an essay. The three most
outstanding submissions from each university
were shortlisted and one winner emerged
from each university.
Team Cognitare (From left to right: Benjamin Wong Yew Weng, Phua
Su Ann, Nigel Koh Rui Qian and Ting Li Na) emerged first runners-up
at the 2nd Chulalongkorn International Business Case Competition
(CIBCC) 2015.
In June this year, Long Hongzhang, LKCSB’s
Master of Science in Applied Finance
graduate, received the 2015 Columbia
Threadneedle Investment Award for his
analysis of the modern portfolio theory
and efficient market hypothesis. He won
one of two S$24,000 scholarship prizes
for his efforts. LKCSB is proud to
congratulate Hongzhang on this honour.
For more information, click here.
LKCSB Ranks Highly in the Financial Times
(FT) Global Masters in Finance in Pre &
Post-experience Rankings 2015
LKCSB is the first school to be ranked in both the Pre-experience and
Post-experience rankings, and is the highest-positioned new entrant.
LKCSB’s Master of Science in Applied Finance (MAF) programme ranked
second in Asia for the Pre-experience ranking, while the Master of Science
in Wealth Management (MWM) programme ranked third in the world for
Post-experience, making LKCSB the only institution in Asia and in Singapore to make it to the top five positions globally, placing just after London
Business School and University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.
For more information on LKCSB, please click here.
September 2015 | Issue 10
LKCSB Bi-annual E-newsletter
School Highlights
Business Students Winning Gold at the SEA Games 2015
Yeo Kai Quan
Chelsea Ann Sim
Swimming
Taekwondo
Liane Wong
Fencing
Photograph Courtesy of Adrian Seetho
University Student Life Awards 2015
Congratulations to the following LKCSB students, clubs and faculty for winning recognition at the 2015 University Student Life Awards!
SMU Excellence in Student Life Gold Award
(Individual)
Soon Kian Keong (Arts)
Lim Han Yang Collin (Sports & Adventure)
Tan Tee Chee & Tsan Kah Ngooh Excellence in
Student Life Silver Award (Individual)
Lim Ke Hao (Student Leadership / Community
Integration)
SMU Excellence in Student Life Bronze Award (Individual)
Almeric Lee Kai Xuan (Sports & Adventure)
Chia Yan Yi Vivien (Student Leadership / Community Integration)
Fan Zhiwen Joel (Student Leadership / Community Integration)
Heah Tian Song Samuel (Arts)
Lee Jun Jie Samuel (Arts)
Lee Ween Jiann (Student Leadership / Community Integration)
Lim Ser Kiat (Student Leadership / Community Integration)
Marcus Yeo Yu Ming (Sports & Adventure)
Nigel Ng Jun Ming (Arts)
Royce Lee Ji Xiong (Arts)
Tan Kam Wei Eldwin (Arts)
Timothy John Tjoe (Sports & Adventure)
SMU Outstanding Achievement in Student Life
Award (Individual/Club)
Chelsea Ann Sim Shu Zhen (Sports & Adventure)
Danny Yeo Kai Quan (Sports & Adventure)
SMU Faculty/Staff Contribution to Student Life
Award (Individual)
Tom Estad
SMU Alumni Association CCA Award (Club)
Banking & Finance Interest Group (BFIG)
Quick Links
ce of Student Life
rtesy of SMU’s Offi
Alumni Corner
Photographs Cou
Kaushal graduated from SMU with a Bachelor’s degree
in Business Management in 2006 and is the Founder
Issue Feature
School Highlights
LKCSB Alumnus Receives AACSB’s Inaugural Influential Leaders Award
The global accrediting body and membership
association for business schools, AACSB International,
has announced that LKCSB alumnus Kaushal Dugar
has been recognised as one of 100 AACSB Influential
Leaders around the world. As the only honoree from
Singapore, and one of five from Asia, Kaushal joins
a notable group of individuals from over 20 industry
sectors across 21 countries to be recognised in the
inaugural Influential Leaders from AACSB Business
School challenge. The Influential Leaders from AACSB
Business School challenge recognises business
schools for their work in developing exceptional leaders
and industry innovators, as well as individuals from
AACSB-accredited schools who personify the role of
a change agent and demonstrate positive impact on
society.
Home Page
“I’m thrilled to be recognized by the AACSB as one of its
first 100 Influential leaders… The broad-based education
which I gained at LKCSB… has helped me grow Teabox
as a successful global e-commerce company that has
revolutionized the 200-year old global tea industry.”
Kaushal Dugar, Founder and CEO of Teabox
and CEO of Teabox, an online tea retailing business that
aims to disrupt the 200-year old tea industry in India.
Since his graduation from SMU, his work has exemplified
the innovative mindset and meaningful contributions
to society that LKCSB graduates display, whether they
operate within large corporations, small businesses or
the nonprofit sector, in Singapore or overseas.
For more information on Kaushal, click here.