Professor Shih receives Honorary Degree from Brown University

Brown University announced on May 6th 2008 that NUS president Shih Choon Fong is one of the seven honorary degree recipients in this year's commencement. The announcement reads as follows: 

"Shih Choon Fong is internationally recognized for his significant contributions in nonlinear fracture mechanics and computational methods for fracture analyses. With some 150 publications in leading scientific journals to his credit, he is among the world’s most frequently cited researchers in engineering. Since becoming president of the National University of Singapore in 2000, he has fostered a research-intensive focus and elevated the university's global reputation. 

Shih received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1973 and was a member of the Brown faculty from 1981 to 1997. Among his many honors and affiliations, he was elected a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Earlier this year, it was announced that Shih will become founding president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia on December 1, 2008."

http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2008/05/commence2008hdrecipients   

Professor Shih will give a speech as part of the commencement forums on Saturday, May 24th 2008 (11 a.m., Sidney E. Frank Hall for Life Sciences, Nathan Marcuvitz Auditorium, Room 220):  

Journeys to the West: Science, Technology, Culture 

Shih Choon Fong, president-elect of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and current president of the National University of Singapore, will discuss the modern significance of Journey to the West, the 16th-century Chinese classic that recounts an epic journey in search of knowledge and wisdom. European explorers launched "journeys to the West" to discover new lands, frontiers, and wealth. More recently, journeys to the West have sought scientific and technological advancement. In today's interdependent and culturally complex world, journeys to the West have come full circle to become searches for understanding of different peoples and cultures. 

http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2008/05/commencement-forums