Meet the Deanery

Professor Simon Chesterman
Dean

Professor Simon Chesterman has been the Dean of NUS Law since 2012. He is also editor of the Asian Journal of International Law.

Educated in Melbourne, Beijing, Amsterdam, and Oxford, Professor 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 (NYU) 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?
Professor 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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Professor David Tan
Vice Dean (Academic Affairs)

Professor 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 has taught courses at Melbourne Law School (Intellectual Property & Popular Culture; Constitutional Law) and University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law (Entertainment Law).

Professor Tan was formerly with the Singapore Administrative Service, serving as Director of Sports at Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS) and Director of International Talent at Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

In the area of law, he has published in a diverse range of journals such as the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, Yale Journal of International Law, Sydney Law Review, Law Quarterly Review, Media & Arts Law Review, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, Torts Law Journal and Australian Intellectual Property Journal. In 2017, David launched his monograph The Commercial Appropriation of Fame on celebrity personality rights published by Cambridge University Press.

He is also Director of Intellectual Property for the EW Barker Centre for Law & Business. In this capacity, he has launched a new Distinguished Visitor in IP Lecture Series and an annual Developments in IP Law seminar series with the IP Academy.

Did you know?
Professor Tan is also an accomplished fine art and fashion photographer having published a coffeetable book Visions of Beauty in association with Versace, and Tainted Perfection in collaboration with Cartier in Singapore. His works have appeared in Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire and The New Yorker. He counts amongst his most memorable photography sessions shoots with Asian actress Maggie Cheung and singer Kit Chan.

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Associate Professor Eleanor Wong
Vice Dean (Student Life & Global Relations)

A graduate of the National University of Singapore, Associate Professor Eleanor Wong started her career with the Commercial Affairs Department, prosecuting complex commercial and securities frauds. She subsequently joined international law firms Coudert Brothers and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, building a practice in international financial transactions. She returned to NUS in 2002 to launch the Law Faculty’s Legal Skills Programme as its Director. She is also Co-ordinator of the Faculty’s International Moots Programme and currently serves as Vice Dean (Student Life & Global Relations).

Eleanor has won several University teaching awards; she has been Associate Director of the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning as well as a member of the Law Faculty’s Teaching Excellence Committee. She is considered a thought-leader in law school pedagogy and has conducted workshops and consultancies in this area for Law schools in the region, including Hong Kong University, Laos National University, National Chengchi University and Jigme Singye Wangchuk School of Law. She is currently a Fellow of the NUS Teaching Academy.

Eleanor holds an LLM from New York University and also happens to be a published playwright and poet.

Did you know?
Eleanor is equal parts techie and arty. She was once writer-in-residence at the Centre for Quantum Technologies.

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Professor Damian Chalmers
Vice Dean (Research)

Professor Damian Chalmers works on how regional organisations reshape trade, regulation and investment. He has written or co-written eight books and over 65 articles. Professor Chalmers worked for 24 years at the London School of Economics and Political Science, including 10 as Professor of EU Law. During that time, he was Head (Dean) of its European Institute and Jean Monnet Centre for four years. He has held Visiting Appointments at the CEU, College of Europe, Copenhagen, EUI, Fudan, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Instituto de Empresa, Michigan, NYU, the Institute of Advanced Studies Vienna, and Trento.

During the referendum period, he was one of three EU lawyers that were appointed by British ESRC ‘UK in a Changing Europe’ programme (the central UK research body) to provide clear opinion on the claims by both sides. He has been cited heavily by media across the world. He was co-editor of the European Law Review, one of the three leading journals in EU law, for six years.

Did you know?
Professor Chalmers’ proposal on restructuring the relationship between EU and national citizenship was a central element of the agreement between the United Kingdom and the other EU States that formed the basis for the UK government recommending that the UK remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum there. “It was no good”, he said. “The British still voted to leave.”

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Ms Goh Mia Yang
Associate Dean
(not in photo)

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 also volunteers as a Referee at the Small Claims Tribunal, State Courts and is an accredited Mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre.