Dr. Cheong Wei Yang

As Vice Provost (Strategic Research Partnerships) at SMU, Dr Cheong develops multi-disciplinary, strategic research partnerships with government and industry, to advance the international standing of SMU’s research in areas of global impact.

Prior to SMU, as Deputy Secretary (Technology) at MOH, Dr Cheong deployed technology against COVID-19, and architected the health research, innovation and digital-IT-data ecosystems to accelerate MOH’s 3 Beyonds – beyond healthcare to health; beyond hospital to community, and beyond quality to value – to achieve population health, precision health and preventive health.

As Deputy CEO of NRF, he implemented the S$19 billion RIE 2020 plan and led an inter-agency effort to develop the S$25 billion RIE 2025 plan.

He served on the Boards of URA; ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute; NMRC; EDDC; DxD Hub; National Additive Manufacturing Programme; Singapore Food Story R&D Programme; Centre for Research & Development in Learning; and NRF Holdings.

Dr Cheong was Divisional Director (Planning) in MOE. Beyond educational policies, he shaped educational research at National Institute of Education and international benchmarking and partnership efforts. As Deputy Director (Manufacturing & Services) at MTI, he oversaw EDB, represented Singapore at the APEC Economic Committee, and led the Secretariat for the Economic Strategies Committee chaired by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. As Head (Fiscal Strategy) at MOF, he planned Singapore’s long-term fiscal sustainability.

As a Rhodes Scholar and PSC Scholar, he obtained his DPhil/MPhil in Economics from Oxford University, and his S.B. in Chemical Engineering and S.B. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology respectively.