We Have a Dearn to Fulfill

We Have a Dream to Fulfill Dr. Shih Choon Fong, First President of KAUST

Dr. Shih Choon Fong was named on Saturday as the first president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.   JEDDAH, 14 January 2008 — I am humbled and privileged to accept the first presidency of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). I am deeply grateful to Ali Al-Naimi, chairman of the university’s board, and to the presidential search committee for this great honor and responsibility. I am first of all an engineer and researcher. In my early childhood, my greatest pleasure was to explore the “longkangs” (ditches) of Singapore, looking for fishes and frogs. Curiosity, and the joy when that is fulfilled, has led me to a life-long quest in pursuit of scientific knowledge, the interplay of inquiry and reasoning. My entire adult life has been dedicated to the pursuit of science and its application to solving problems for humanity, and to facilitating the conditions in which science can flourish — the nurturing of open minds, of passion and curiosity for the world, of acceptance of diversity, and for the need for human beings to work together. When a scientist-engineer, such as I am, becomes the president of a university — an institution dedicated to the discovery and pursuit of knowledge, committed to deep scholarship and to attracting the best minds, and steadfast in addressing the pressing challenges facing humanity — it is to keep a trust, to become a steward of what is most precious in human civilization. In my life, I have been honored, not once, but twice, in helping to build a world-class university. The first time was in the mid-1990s, when I was called from my quiet researcher’s life at Brown University in the US, where I had spent 30 years, to return to my native Singapore and become the founding director of a national research institute and eventually, the president of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and to help transform the latter from a great teaching institution to a world-class research university with links to other research universities around the world. Over the past 11 years, I have been privileged to work with some extraordinary people in Singapore and all over the world, to help fulfill the vision of the leaders and people of Singapore for a world-class research university. Now for the second time, I am called to help build a world-class research university for the 21st century. While this enterprise is far from my home, it is close to my heart. I am honored and privileged to be part of the building of what Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has called a new house of wisdom (bayt al-hikma) — “a forum for science and research, and a beacon of knowledge for future generations.” At the heart of KAUST is an enlightened Islamic spirit, a spirit that loves knowledge not only for its own sake but also for its promise to better the human condition. I am honored and privileged to be part of the building of what Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has called a new house of wisdom (bayt al-hikma) — “a forum for science and research, and a beacon of knowledge for future generations.” At the heart of KAUST is an enlightened Islamic spirit, a spirit that loves knowledge not only for its own sake but also for its promise to better the human condition. As King Abdullah has also said, this new house of wisdom will “be a source of knowledge and serve as a bridge between people and cultures ... delivering its humane and noble message ... with the help of God and the minds and the ideas of enlightened people, who will participate in this educational mission without discrimination.” To the people of Saudi Arabia, my wife and I are excited about making our home with you, and discovering and appreciating your rich traditions and culture. I look forward to helping build KAUST into a global knowledge enterprise, whose discoveries in science and technology will bring benefits to your lives and your children’s and their children’s also. To my colleagues in science and higher education around the world, I look forward to building a university of global standing, adopting the best practices and appointing leading scholars from around the world. This community will be international, encompassing people from all faiths, from all over the world. This openness to talented individuals of outstanding ability will be the hallmark of this new university and the best guarantee it offers for achieving its remarkable goals. This, however, is not just another well-endowed research university. KAUST represents a paradigm shift — an intellectual, organizational innovation — to conduct high-impact research unconstrained by disciplinary boundaries, to create a new ecosystem for research unfettered by organizational strictures, and to build meaningful partnerships across communities, cultures and continents. All for the larger purpose of serving humanity by finding scientific and technological solutions to the problems facing the Kingdom, the region, and the world. To my colleagues and friends around the world, we have a trust to keep, and a dream to fulfill.