SMU opened officially for business
Saturday, 29th July 2000
The Singapore Management University (SMU) opened officially for business with a grand Inaugural Opening Convocation Ceremony in Singapore. Held under the skies in an open field, the ceremony was conducted in arguably, the largest air-conditioned marquee erected in Singapore for such an event.
Background: SMU is the brainchild of Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Dr Tony Tan. The university has been in planning for over three years. Although funded by the government, SMU is Singapore's first private university. Dr Tan and the Ministry of Education, granted SMU private status to allow greater leeway in faculty recruitment, remuneration and administration along the lines of Ivy-league US universities. SMU is modeled on the successful Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Operating under a five-year collaboration based on curriculum development and research with Wharton, SMU began the first day of term on August 1. SMU is Singapore's first university to offer an American-style university education.