Professor Ho Teck Hua
Founding Executive Chairman, AI Singapore
Prof. Ho Teck Hua is the fifth President of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU), where he is a Distinguished University Professor. He is also the founding Executive Chairman of AI Singapore (AISG) and President of the Academy of Engineering, Singapore.
Professor Ho is a prominent behavioural scientist with a PhD and a master's degree in decision sciences from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a master’s degree in computer and information sciences and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with first class honours, both from the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Before joining NTU, Professor Ho served as Senior Deputy President and Provost (2018-2023) and Deputy President (Research and Technology) (2015-2018) at NUS. He was the first awardee (in 2015) of the Singapore National Research Foundation’s Returning Singaporean Scientists Scheme, for projects on “Solving Societal Challenges Using Data-Driven Decision Sciences”. In 2017, he spearheaded the creation of AISG, a national research and development programme on artificial intelligence (AI). Under his leadership, AISG launched multiple signature projects, such as the use of AI to address national challenges in healthcare and education, 100Experiments projects to catalyse the adoption of cutting-edge AI solutions in industry, and the award-winning AI Apprenticeship Programme to build a pipeline of AI talent for Singapore.
As the Provost of NUS, he was responsible for developing and enhancing NUS’s Lifelong Learning (NUS L3) Programme, which is a pathway for postgraduate and continuing education. He was also responsible for attracting young global and Singaporean talent to NUS via the Presidential Young Professorship Scheme and recruiting established faculty members, including a Nobel Prize awardee, to join the University to head research centres and high-level international programmes. At NUS, he oversaw the creation of NUS College, the University’s first honours college, and the College of Design and Engineering. The latter was a merger of the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Design and Environment to create a stronger base for interdisciplinary research and education at the University. He also pioneered the development of career+, a smartphone app that leverages big data and AI to help students plan their education and careers.
Prior to serving at NUS, Professor Ho was the William Halford Jr Family Professor of Marketing at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business (2002-2015), Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1997-2002), and Assistant Professor of Operations and Technology Management at the University of California, Los Angeles’s Anderson School of Management (1994-1997). At the Haas School of Business, Professor Ho received the Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in MBA Teachingthree years in a row (2004-2006) and the 2010 Distinguished Teaching Award, the University of California, Berkeley's highest university-level award for teaching. In 2015, he was presented with the Williamson Award, the Haas School’s highest faculty award, named in honour of Oliver Williamson, recipient of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The award celebrates honourees who best reflect the character and integrity associated with Williamson’s scholarly work and legacy.
Many of Professor Ho’s significant works have been published in refereed journals in the areas of behavioural economics, management science and marketing. He was the first non-US citizen to be Editor-in-Chief of Management Science, the venerable flagship journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and one of the top journals for research in management.
In Singapore, Professor Ho is a member of the boards of DSO National Laboratories, the Government Technology Agency, and the National Research Foundation. He is an academician of Academia Sinica.
