Lim Chuan Poh's Biography

Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, A*STAR

Mr Lim Chuan Poh was appointed as Chairman A*STAR in April 2007 to lead A*STAR in advancing science and developing innovative technology to further economic growth and improve lives.

Appointed as Deputy Chairman of A*STAR in November 2006, Mr Lim has been a Board Member of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) since 2003 and the National Research Foundation since January 2006. He is the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Imperial College-NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. He co-chairs the Health and Biomedical Sciences and the National Cybersecurity R&D Executive Committee. He is also a member of the Singtel Technology Advisory Panel (TAP). Mr Lim was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY SPP) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) since July 2013.

Internationally, Mr Lim is both a Director and Council Member of the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum; and a Member of Japan’s World Premier International (WPI) Initiative Programme Assessment and Review Committee since 2007; and a Special Committee Member of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Advisory Committee since 2014. He became a founding member of Frost and Sullivan Board of Governors of the Economic Development Innovation Council in 2014.

Prior to A*STAR, Mr Lim was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education (MOE) from July 2003 to Mar 2007. Before joining MOE, he spent 23 years with the Singapore Armed Forces and last held the office of Chief of Defence Force with a rank of Lieutenant General.

Mr Lim graduated with a BA(Hons) from Cambridge University in 1983, and received an MA from Cambridge University in 1988, as well as an MBA from Cornell University in 1993. He attended the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in 2003. He has also been conferred honorary doctorates from Loughborough (2008), Monash (2009), Arizona State University (2012) as well as Fellowship of Imperial College (2010).