PROFESSOR DR LILY CHAN

Biography

PROFESSOR DR LILY CHAN is the Chief Executive and Vice Chancellor of Wawasan Open University (WOU) in Penang, Malaysia.
She has been the driving force behind the University’s mission of providing lifelong learning opportunities to Malaysians through distance learning for professional and personal development. She aspires to reach out to youths and adult learners who had missed out on tertiary qualifications and those seeking to equip themselves with skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing work environment
She recently set up the School of Digital Technology (DiGiT) at WOU, a faculty which offers intensive, skills-centric degree programmes in Digital Business and Software Engineering. The DiGiT School has forged agreements with industry partners for the training and placement of its students, enabling them to acquire hands-on work experience.

WOU’s innovative tagline, ‘Think Tomorrow’, speaks of the University’s commitment to produce industry-ready graduates who can compete in today’s digitally-transformed workplaces. Its online learning platforms are interactive and engaging, designed to offer an enriching student learning experience.

Professor Chan was previously the CEO of NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore until March 2019. She transformed this division into one of the most esteemed higher education entrepreneurial ecosystems that nurtured hundreds of startup companies.

Before helming NUS Enterprise, she was the Managing Director of Bio*ONE Investments, an investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board with a focus on expanding the growth of the biomedical science industry in Singapore.

In recognition of her talents and contribution, she was honoured with the Public Administration Medal (Silver) at the Singapore National Day Awards Ceremony in 2018.

With over 30 years of leadership experience in the triple helix sphere of academia, industry and government, she is focused on implementing digital distance learning initiatives to transform WOU into a leading educational institution in the country.