Teo Chee Hean receives NTU honorary degree for contributions to Singapore across several roles
As a council member at Nanyang Technological Institute, Teo had overseen its reconstitution to NTU.
Senior Advisor in the Prime Minister's Office Teo Chee Hean received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on August 26, 2025, for his contributions to Singapore across multiple roles over the years. Teo entered politics in December 1992 and held several Cabinet positions, including Minister for Home Affairs, Defence, and Education, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security, and Senior Minister before retiring in 2025.
This honor marked a return to NTU's early history for Teo, as he served as a council member at NTI from 1988 to 1991, overseeing its transformation into NTU and the integration of the National Institute of Education (NIE) with the university in July 1991. NTU Chancellor President Tharman Shanmugaratnam conferred the honorary degree during a ceremony at NTU.
In his acceptance speech, Teo praised NTU's growth and its recognition internationally for teaching and research, expressing gratitude for the institution's development. NTU President Ho Teck Hua highlighted Teo's role in shaping the university's beginnings in the 1980s, when he advised Minister for Education Tony Tan that NTI could adopt a model similar to the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
Teo's influence extended to the university's transformation into a comprehensive institution in 2003, where he increased teachers' pay and established three career progression tracks: teaching, school leadership, and senior specialist. Today, an NIE-trained teacher starts with a monthly salary of $5,000, comparable to an engineering graduate.
Teo also emphasized the importance of teaching as a calling and the need for a balanced approach in education, incorporating values, well-being, sport, culture, and service. He noted that while artificial intelligence can optimize learning, human teachers remain essential in guiding, inspiring, and helping learners make judgments and decisions.
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