Education and Early Career
Tan was educated at Anglo Chinese School, St Patrick's School and St Joseph's Institution. As a recipient of a government scholarship, he graduated with first class honours in physics from the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore), topping his class. As an Asia Foundation scholar, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he completed a Master of Science in operations research. He later earned a Doctor of Philosophy in applied mathematics at the University of Adelaide, and went on to lecture mathematics in the University of Singapore.
In 1969, Tan left the University of Singapore to begin a career in banking with Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), where he rose to become General Manager, before leaving the bank to pursue a career in politics in 1979. From 1980 to 1981, Tan was the first Vice Chancellor of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
In 2005, Tan was presented the NUS Eminent Alumni Award in recognition of his role as a visionary architect of Singapore’s university sector. In 2010, he was presented the inaugural Distinguished Australian Alumnus Award by the Australian Alumni Singapore (AAS) at its 55th anniversary dinner in recognition of his distinguished career, and his significant contribution to society and to the Australian alumni community.
Read more about this topic: Tony Tan
Famous quotes containing the words education and, education, early and/or career:
“He was the product of an English public school and university. He was, moreover, a modern product of those seats of athletic exercise. He had little education and highly developed muscles—that is to say, he was no scholar, but essentially a gentleman.”
—H. Seton Merriman (1862–1903)
“You are told a lot about your education, but some beautiful, sacred memory, preserved since childhood, is perhaps the best education of all. If a man carries many such memories into life with him, he is saved for the rest of his days. And even if only one good memory is left in our hearts, it may also be the instrument of our salvation one day.”
—Feodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881)
“Men and women are not born inconstant: they are made so by their early amorous experiences.”
—Andre Maurois (1885–1967)
“From a hasty glance through the various tests I figure it out that I would be classified in Group B, indicating “Low Average Ability,” reserved usually for those just learning to speak the English Language and preparing for a career of holding a spike while another man hits it.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)