History of the Faculty

 

The Faculty of Law is part of the National University of Singapore (NUS), the oldest tertiary institution in Singapore. The NUS traces its rich history to the founding of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School in 1905. The Medical School was renamed the King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1912. In 1949, it merged with Raffles College (itself set up in 1929) to form the University of Malaya.

University of Malaya Logo

Dr LA Sheridan Dean, 1956-1962

The roots of the Faculty of Law lie in the establishment of the Department of Law in the then University of Malaya in 1956. The first law students were admitted to the Bukit Timah campus of the University in 1957. In 1959, the Department attained Faculty status with Professor Lionel Astor (“Lee”) Sheridan serving as the founding Dean. The pioneer class of law students graduated in 1961, and counts among its most illustrious members Professor Tommy Koh (Ambassador-at-Large and former Dean), Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, former Dean Thio Su-Mien and Professor Koh Kheng Lian.

In the early 1960s, the governments of Singapore and Malaya announced their desire for the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur divisions of the University of Malaya to become autonomous national universities in their respective territories. Thus, on 1st January 1962, the University of Singapore was born. Singapore was admitted to the Federation of Malaysia on 16th September 1963. The union lasted until 9th August 1965, when Singapore became an independent republic. Throughout this period and thereafter, the Faculty of Law continued to flourish as part of the University of Singapore. In 1980, the University of Singapore and Nanyang University (Nantah) were merged to form the National University of Singapore (NUS). With that, the Faculty of Law became part of the modern NUS at its present Kent Ridge home.

In 2005, the government announced that the Bukit Timah campus would be returned to NUS. Subsequently, it was decided that the Faculty of Law will move out of Kent Ridge to Bukit Timah, along with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and several research institutes. On 17 July 2006, the Faculty made its historic move back to the hallowed grounds of Bukit Timah.

Walk down memory lane:  milestones of the Faculty and history of the Bukit Timah campus.