Tommy Koh, Walter Woon and Jeffrey Pinsler appointed as Emeritus Professors

(L to R): Professors Tommy Koh ’61, Walter Woon ’81 and Jeffrey Pinsler

NUS Law is pleased to announce that Professors Tommy Koh ’61, Walter Woon ’81 and Jeffrey Pinsler have been appointed as Emeritus Professors in recognition of their distinguished careers at the faculty and outstanding contributions to the field of law.

Professor Tommy Koh ’61 was part of the of the first cohort of NUS Law graduates and one of the very few to earn first class honours in the faculty’s early years. With graduate degrees from Harvard and Cambridge, he joined NUS Law and went on to serve as Dean, later chairing the Faculty’s Advisory Board for a decade. He has also served as Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies (2004-2009) and Chairman of the Centre for International Law (2009-2022). He has also served as Rector of Tembusu College since 2011.

In addition to this extensive service to NUS, he has also played key roles for Singapore, including as Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1968-1971, 1974-1984), and Ambassador to the United States (1984-1990). He was founding Chairman of the National Arts Council (1991-1996), Chairman of the National Heritage Board (2002-2011), and Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation.

Tommy has also had a transformative role globally, including through his presidency of the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (1981-1982) and chairmanship of the Preparatory Committee for and the Main Committee at the 1992 Earth Summit. He has received too many honours to mention all, but four that stand out are an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Yale (1984), the Elizabeth Haub Prize for Environmental Law (1996), the UNEP Champion of the Earth Award (2006), and the Great Negotiator Award from Harvard (2014).

Professor Walter Woon ’81 studied at NUS Law on a Development Bank of Singapore Scholarship, graduating in 1981 with First Class Honours and a slew of prizes. He went on to Cambridge on a Commonwealth Scholarship, graduating with an LLM (First Class Honours) in 1983, also receiving the Whytehead Scholarship and the Wright Prize from St John’s College Cambridge. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 1984 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2006.

After joining NUS Law, he served as Sub-Dean and Vice-Dean of the faculty from 1988-1991. He later became a Nominated Member of Parliament from 1992-1996, notably being the first Member of Parliament to have a Private Member’s Bill passed (the Maintenance of Parents Act in 1995). He also served as Legal Adviser to the President and Council of Presidential Advisers from 1995 to 1997. From 1998 to 2006, he served as Singapore’s Ambassador to Germany, Greece, the European Union, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the Vatican. Walter then returned to Singapore to become the first academic appointed as Solicitor-General from 2006 to 2008 and Attorney-General from 2008 to 2010, eventually rejoining NUS Law as the David Marshall Professor. He is currently ​Chairman of the regional law firm RHTLaw Asia LLP, an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College Cambridge, Patron of the Gunong Sayang Association, Chairman of the Society for International Law Singapore, Chairman of the Market Surveillance and Compliance Panel of the Energy Market Company, and an Honorary Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Directors. Among other professional roles, he has served as founding Dean of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education, ​Chairman of the Goethe Institute Singapore and ​Deputy Chairman of the NUS Centre for International Law.

Walter is a distinguished teacher of Criminal Law and Company Law, with the remarkable record of five Faculty Teaching Awards and three University Teaching Excellence Awards (2014, 2015 and 2021). He has also written field-defining work on Singaporean Company Law, including the first comprehensive treatise on the topic (now in its third edition). Other publications include the definitive commentary on the ASEAN Charter. He has also written four law-adjacent novels, beginning with The Advocate’s Devil in 2002, one of which was made into a television series last year under the title “This Land Is Mine”.

Professor Jeffrey Pinsler began his career at NUS Law in 1986 as a Lecturer, with degrees from Liverpool and Cambridge, as well as being admitted to the Bar in Singapore and as a Member of Middle Temple. Nearly four decades later, he has served, among other roles, as Vice Dean, Chair of the Faculty Search Committee, and member of the University’s Board of Discipline.

Jeffrey has made longstanding contributions to the teaching of the procedural or adjectival dimensions of the law in particular. He has been a mainstay of the teaching team for Evidence Law, having taught that subject at NUS Law for more than three decades. He has also designed and taught elective courses on civil procedure and civil justice, giving much needed academic attention to subjects that are vital to the practice of law.

His published works include the authoritative text on Singapore’s Evidence Law, which has been relied upon regularly by the courts. It has gone through seven editions and has for long been the primary textbook for the Evidence course. He has also written or edited books on civil procedure and legal professional ethics and responsibility that have had a profound impact on the law. A scan of LawNet reveals more than 600 citations of his work, with many more in judgments that are unreported. Among other recognition, he was appointed Geoffrey Bartholomew Professor of Law in 2014 until he asked to relinquish that title in 2020.

Jeffrey has also made extensive contributions to the wider legal profession. He has served on many committees of the Supreme Court and the Singapore Academy of Law; they include the Board of Governors of the Singapore Judicial College, the Civil Justice Commission, the Council of Law Reporting, the Commissioning Panel of Academy Publishing, the Professional Conduct Council, the Ethics Committee, and the Rules of Court Working Party. He was conferred the title of Senior Counsel in 2008, a prestigious appointment that reflects his high standing in the legal profession.

Join us in congratulating them on this exceptional recognition of their many achievements!