Shih Choon Fong is the former president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and a fracture mechanics expert. Before joining KAUST as Founding President in December 2008, he was president of the National University of Singapore for 9 years and has been widely acknowledged for creating the University's research-intensive focus with an entrepreneurial dimension, as well as for NUS' elevated global reputation. Drawing from his experiences abroad, Shih institutionalised a performance- and market-based evaluation and compensation system for academics. Prof. Shih was a key driver for the formation of the International Alliance of Research Universities, and led the Association of Pacific Rim Universities for four years. He was the founding chair of the Governing Board of the APRU World Institute and served on national-level committees such as the Economic Review Committee, which crafted wide-ranging strategies for the re-making of Singapore. Shih was announced as the Founding President of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology on 13 January 2008. Shih fully assumed this new role on 1 December 2008. Leading KAUST in its formative years, Shih promoted the university as a destination of choice for graduate education and cutting-edge research, where the synergy between education and research catalyzes ideas and innovations to address global challenges and improve lives. Under his guidance KAUST has become internationally respected among the world's best faculty, said then-chairman of KAUST's Board of Trustees and Saudi Oil minister Ali I. Al-Naimi in a tribute on Shih's stepping down. Shih was succeeded by Caltech president Jean-Lou Chameau in July 2013. Shih is among the highly cited researchers in the world for the category of engineering compiled by the Institute for Scientific Information. In 2004, Shih became the first Singaporean to be elected as a Foreign Associate to the United States National Academy of Engineering. He was awarded the French decoration "Chevalier" in the Order of the "Legion d'Honneur" in 2005. In recognition of his work and research achievements, Shih was elected as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006. Shih received Honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Loughborough University, Waseda University and Brown University. In 2007, Shih received the inaugural Chief Executive Leadership Award for Asia Pacific presented by the Council for Advancement and Support for Education. In 2016, an international symposium was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in honor of Shih on the occasion of his 70th birthday. In 2018, Shih received the Centennial Medal from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for his innovative research and leadership in higher education. Shih serves in advisory roles and visiting committees with University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Holdings, Peking University, SUSTech, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, American University of Sharjah, MIT, among others. He served on the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Judging Panel from 2012 to 2017. Shih now divides his time between China, Singapore and US, working with universities, corporations and government agencies to promote market-based approaches for producing liquid fuels from solar energy and other renewable sources. Those who admire his light-complexioned good looks and silvery mane of hair, have dubbed him "The Anderson Cooper of the Orient"
