Meet the Deanery

Prof Simon Chesterman
Dean

Prof Simon Chesterman has been the Dean of NUS Law since 2012. He is also editor of the Asian Journal of International Law and Secretary-General of the Asian Society of International Law.

Educated in Melbourne, Beijing, Amsterdam, and Oxford, Prof Chesterman’s teaching experience includes periods at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Southampton, Columbia, and Sciences Po. From 2006-2011, he was Global Professor and Director of the New York University School of Law Singapore Programme.

Prior to joining NYU, he was a senior associate at the International Peace Academy and Director of UN Relations at the International Crisis Group in New York. He previously worked for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yugoslavia and interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

He is a recognised authority on international law, whose work has opened up new areas of research on conceptions of public authority – including the rules and institutions of global governance, state-building and post-conflict reconstruction, and the changing role of intelligence agencies.

Did you know?
Prof Chesterman lived in Beijing for a year in 1991 studying Chinese language. He now tries to improve his rusty skills by reading Chinese children’s books with his kids.

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Assoc Prof David Tan
Vice Dean, Academic Affairs

David Tan holds a PhD from Melbourne Law School, a LLM from Harvard, and graduated with a LLB (First Class Honours)/BCom from the University of Melbourne. He was named the 1998 Outstanding Young Person of Singapore and is also an accomplished fine art fashion photographer, having published a coffeetable book “Visions of Beauty” in association with Versace, and “Tainted Perfection” in collaboration with Cartier in Singapore. His most recent retrospective collection of photographs “David Tan: The First Decade” is exclusively distributed by PageOne/Kinokuniya bookstores. David was formerly with the Singapore Administrative Service, serving as Director of Sports at Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports and Director of International Talent at Ministry of Manpower. In the area of law, he has published in a diverse range of journals like the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Yale Journal of International Law, Sydney Law Review, Australian Law Journal and Australian Intellectual Property Journal.

Did you know?
David is also a well-known fashion and fine art photographer in Singapore, and has photographed a number of Asian celebrities like Maggie Cheung, Kit Chan, Dick Lee and Allan Wu.

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Assoc Prof Eleanor Wong
Vice Dean, Student Affairs

A graduate of the National University of Singapore, Eleanor Wong returned to NUS in 2002 to launch the Law Faculty’s Legal Skills Programme as its Director. In addition to leading and teaching in the Legal Skills Programme, Eleanor co-ordinates the faculty’s participation in international moot competitions and teaches the module International Legal Processes. She has also provided consultancy to other law schools in the region on how to design and implement effective legal skills curricula.

Eleanor has won several University teaching awards and has served as Associate Director of the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning. More recently, she is a member of the Law Faculty’s Teaching Excellence Committee (FTEC) which recognizes colleagues for their teaching achievements at faculty level. The FTEC also advocates for colleagues to receive teaching awards at university level.

Eleanor started her career with the Commercial Affairs Department, prosecuting complex commercial and securities frauds.

She obtained a masters in corporate law from New York University in 1990 and practiced in the New York office of Coudert Brothers, returning to Singapore in 1992. In New York, Eleanor worked on international arbitrations, mergers and acquisitions and banking transactions. Back in Singapore, Eleanor specialized in regional banking and finance work for Coudert and, later, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. She has advised international financial institutions, corporations and regional governments.

Did you know?
Eleanor is equal parts techie and arty-farty. If you visit her office, you are as likely to find a spare PATA 126GB SSD as a volume of Tang poetry.

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Prof James Penner
Vice Dean, Research

A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, the University of Toronto, and Oxford, Prof James Penner is the Vice Dean, Research. A barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, Professor Penner is a specialist in the law of trusts and private law more generally.

Prior to joining NUS in 2013, Prof Penner spent his teaching career in London, teaching at Brunel University, the London School of Economics, King’s College London and University College London. From 2011 to 2013 he served as Head of Department at the Faculty of Laws, UCL.

Besides his teaching and writing in the law of trusts, Prof Penner has written extensively on the philosophy of law, with special interests in the philosophical foundations of the common law, legal reasoning, and property theory.

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Ms Goh Mia Yang
Associate Dean

An alumnus of the law school’s Class of 1992, Ms Goh Mia Yang joined the faculty after spending eight years in legal practice. Reining the helm of the faculty’s administrative arm, she oversees the various departments, ensuring the smooth running of the day-to-day operations. She also maintains close connections with the faculty’s graduates and donors through her work in alumni relations and development.

Did you know?
Other than her work at NUS Law, Ms Goh has been involved with student residences since 2003. Currently a Resident Fellow at Raffles Hall, she was a Resident Fellow at Temasek Hall from 2003 – 2011 and a Resident Advisor of Kuok Foundation House from 2011 – 2016.