Launch of Goh Keng Swee Professorship in China Studies
SINGAPORE, 16 APRIL 2025 – The East Asian Institute (EAI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Jean C. Oi, who is the William Haas Professor in Chinese Politics in the department of political science and a Senior Fellow of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, as its inaugural Goh Keng Swee Professor in China Studies.
This prestigious professorship, which will be offered on a rotating basis, aims to attract distinguished scholars with an established academic record and an international reputation in the fields of economic, social, and political issues in China. It honours Dr Goh Keng Swee (1918–2010), founder of the East Asian Institute and Singapore’s former Deputy Prime Minister.
(L-R): EAI Director Prof Alfred Schipke, NUS Provost Prof Aaron Thean, EAI inaugural Goh Keng Swee Professor in China Studies Prof Jean Oi, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Prof Tommy Koh and EAI Chairman Dr Teh Kok Peng
Prof Oi’s appointment was unveiled at a launch event officiated by Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Professor Tommy Koh on 16 April. She will embark on the Professorship from September 2025. During her year-long tenure with the EAI, Prof Oi will collaborate with EAI researchers and contribute to the institute’s ongoing projects and initiatives on US-China relations, trade and the global economy, as well as the impact of geopolitical developments on Singapore and the broader region. She will also engage in exchanges with the policy, diplomatic, academic and business community in Singapore via lectures, roundtables and joint research projects.
Prof Oi is also the founding director of the Stanford China Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, and the founding Lee Shau Kee Director of the Stanford Center at Peking University.
“The setting up of the Goh Keng Swee Professorship will be a constant reminder of what Dr Goh has achieved for Singapore, and the qualities of courage, curiosity, and pragmatism that he embodied. If sufficiently endowed, the Professorship will attract China experts from top universities in the world to spend a few years with the EAI. There will be knowledge transfer, enabling the EAI to develop and maintain a network of relationships with and through the experts. Talent attracts talent. We hope to develop and retain promising young researchers, especially in Singapore, who would be attracted to work with, and learn from, renowned experts,” said EAI Chairman Dr Teh Kok Peng.
EAI Director Prof Alfred Schipke said: “It is my great honour to welcome Professor Jean Oi as the inaugural Goh Keng Swee Professor in China Studies at EAI. As one of the most insightful scholars of China’s political economy, Jean brings a rare blend of academic rigour and cultural fluency. At a time when understanding China is more vital than ever, her presence in Singapore—at the crossroads of East and West—will deepen dialogue, inspire the next generation, and advance EAI’s mission to bridge research and policy on Asia’s most pressing issues.”
About Professor Jean Oi
Prof Oi’s work focuses on comparative politics, with special expertise on China’s political economy and institutions in the process of reform. Fiscal politics and central-local relations in China are at the centre of Prof Oi’s research. Recent work delves inside local-level institutions by exploring how county governments through adaptive governance have been able to cope as the economy has grown exponentially and demands and needs from an increasingly complex society put more strains on resources and the political system.
Most recently, she co-edited a volume that highlights the challenges China now faces after reaping record breaking growth the last 40 years. Current projects focus on growing local government debt in China and why there is so much when law prohibits localities from borrowing and budget deficits. Moving beyond her earlier work, Prof Oi also has begun a project to empirically assess the impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Prof Oi takes an institutional and micro-level approach to identify the key players and their interests.
About the Goh Keng Swee Professorship in China Studies
The Goh Keng Swee Professorship in China Studies aims to attract distinguished scholars with an established academic record and an international reputation in the study of China’s economic, social, and political developments. By inviting leading experts to engage in research and dialogue at EAI, the professorship will enrich Singapore’s intellectual landscape and enhance scholarly collaboration on contemporary Chinese studies.
Among the duties of the Professor would be the delivery of the Goh Keng Swee lecture for the year of appointment, past speakers for which include Singapore’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo. The Goh Keng Swee Professorship would be funded from an endowment under the NUS Statutes, which would produce annual reports for the EAI Board. Donors would be invited to the Goh Keng Swee Lecture and key EAI events, and would be acknowledged on the EAI’s website and in invitations for the Goh Keng Swee Lecture. The Board of the EAI would decide on the Professor based on the recommendations of a subcommittee of the Board including the EAI Director.
How to Donate
We welcome further donations to the Professorship under the EAI Goh Keng Swee Programme so that it can be sufficiently endowed, enabling the EAI to attract China experts from top universities in the world to spend a few years with the EAI. There will be knowledge transfer, enabling the EAI to develop and maintain a network of relationships with and through the experts, and to develop and retain promising young researchers, especially in Singapore, who would be attracted to work with, and learn from, renowned experts. These experts will contribute to policy discussions on China through engagements with the policy, diplomatic and business community in Singapore, among other things.
Please contact EAI Senior Associate Director Yuen Sin (yuensin@nus.edu.sg) and Senior Manager James Tan (eaitanj@nus.edu.sg) if you wish to pledge a donation to support the Professorship.
For Singapore tax residents (personal/corporate), your gift to NUS is eligible for a tax deduction that is 2.5 times the gift value.
Appendix: Speech Transcripts
Transcript of EAI Chairman Dr Teh Kok Peng’s welcome remarks
Transcript of Prof Tommy Koh’s keynote speech
Transcript of EAI Director Prof Alfred Schipke’s introduction of Prof Jean Oi
For enquiries, please contact
Yuen Sin (Ms)
Senior Associate Director, EAI
yuensin@nus.edu.sg
