Kenneth Paul Tan, PhD (Cambridge)
Talent100 Professor of Politics, Film, and Cultural Studies
School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University
A versatile academic and interdisciplinary scholar with expertise spanning Political Science, Public Management and Policy Studies, Sociology, Urban Studies, Cultural Studies, Film and Media Studies, and Singapore Studies.
A multiple-award-winning educator and executive trainer, recognized for pioneering interdisciplinary and socially transformative teaching methodologies that integrate liberal arts with professional education.
An experienced academic leader with a strong track record in institution-building and educational reform.
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Kenneth Paul Tan is a tenured Professor of Politics, Film, and Cultural Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, where he was recruited under the prestigious Talent100 initiative in February 2021. He teaches and conducts interdisciplinary research across the School of Communication, Department of Journalism, the Academy of Film, and the Department of Government and International Studies.
Previously, Tan served as a tenured Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. As Vice Dean for Academic Affairs during its most pivotal years of expansion, he played a key role in shaping the School's academic direction and was part of its senior leadership team for nearly a decade. Before that, he taught at the NUS Political Science Department, where he was Assistant Head, and at the University Scholars Programme, NUS's pioneering liberal arts initiative.
Tan's contributions to education have been widely recognized. He is a recipient of numerous teaching awards, including NUS's most prestigious Outstanding Educator Award, and was elected Chair of the university’s Teaching Academy. His scholarly achievements have been internationally recognized, including his continuous listing since 2021 among the top 2% of scientists in the world by Stanford University. Tan is particularly noted for his contributions to the Social Sciences and the subfields of Cultural Studies and International Studies, which have earned him a place in this prestigious ranking.
Tan's published works reflect an extensive and interdisciplinary research agenda that bridges Political Science, Public Management and Policy Studies, Sociology, Urban Studies, Cultural Studies, Film and Media Studies, and Singapore Studies. His books include Asia in the Old and New Cold Wars: Ideologies, Narratives, and Lived Experiences (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023), Movies to Save Our World: Imagining Poverty, Inequality, and Environmental Destruction in the 21st Century (Penguin, 2022), Singapore's First Year of COVID-19: Public Health, Immigration, the Neoliberal State, and Authoritarian Populism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), 新加坡模式:城邦國家建構簡史 (季風帶文化, 2020), Singapore: Identity, Brand, Power (Cambridge University Press, 2018), Governing Global-City Singapore: Legacies and Futures After Lee Kuan Yew (Routledge, 2017), Cinema and Television in Singapore: Resistance in One Dimension (Brill, 2008), and Renaissance Singapore? Economy, Culture, and Politics (NUS Press, 2007).
In addition to his books, Tan has published numerous articles in leading international journals, contributing significantly to the academic discourse in his fields of expertise.
Tan has held visiting fellowships and honorary or adjunct professorships at institutions worldwide, including the Australian National University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Georgetown University (as a Fulbright Fellow), Griffith University, Harvard University, Sciences Po, INSEAD, the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the University of Hong Kong. He was awarded the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Postgraduate Scholarship in 1995 to pursue a PhD in Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge, which he completed in 2000. He also holds a First Class Honours degree in the Joint School of Economics and Politics from the University of Bristol, obtained in 1994 on a Public Service Commission Overseas Merit (Open) Scholarship.
Beyond academia, Tan has been actively involved in cultural and arts organizations. He serves on the Advisory Board of the National Museum of Singapore and was the founding Chair of the Asian Film Archive’s Board of Directors and the Chair of the Board of Directors of The Necessary Stage, a prominent Singapore theatre company.
Tan is also a trained musician and an enthusiastic marathon runner. He is married to Clara Lim-Tan, Director (Arts Education) at the Ministry of Education (Singapore).
What people say about Kenneth Paul Tan:
"The master-educator of the LKY School … He’s done a truly remarkable job in his 5 years as Vice Dean. … If you don’t have someone who provides dynamic and outstanding leadership in the core critical areas of the School, the School will not have succeeded as much as it has. So to all who say that the LKY School has done exceptionally well in the last 5 years, I’d say let’s be honest about it. Thank you Kenneth Paul Tan."
Dean Kishore Mahbubani
Speech, 2 August 2017
"During my 50+ years of academic work in four continents, I have not encountered a single person in a senior position who has been always scrupulously honest, constructive, objective, full of integrity and supportive. This is in addition to your intellectual prowess."
Distinguished Professor Asit Biswas
Letter, 2 July 2017
"His peers call him 'a gentleman scholar as well as a bold intellectual' ... He is ... the very model of a new breed of a 'modern university leader' ... In his own way, he is pushing the boundaries to further open the space for public discourse in Singapore for 'better outcomes for all'."
Mint, 28 March 2014
" ... in our polarised and polarising societies ..., our academic institutions face unprecedented challenges. Their traditional roles as centres for independent scholarship and non-partisan dialogue, and as trusted sources of expertise are coming under threat. Increasingly, our post-modern societies question the value of universities’ neutrality and non-partisanship. More so than before, our universities need thoughtful, independent, socially impactful and critical minds to address society’s most vexatious and contentious problems. ... In this respect, I can think of no better scholar than Kenneth to meet this need. ... In these politically charged and fragmented times, our universities need more of these silo-defying, silo-busting scholars."
Professor Donald Low
Letter, 23 October 2019
"Prof Kenneth Paul Tan's departure [from the LKY School] will be a great loss to NUS and Singapore. Not only is he one of the most prolific and insightful scholars writing on Singapore politics and culture, he is also a tremendous teacher, having won numerous teaching awards and taught countless numbers of undergraduate and graduate students. I had the privilege of sitting in one of his graduate classes on Singapore policymaking at LKYSPP some years ago. It was a real treat seeing a master of his craft at work. And of course, he's one of the nicest persons I've met, cheering junior academics along whenever he can. I'm now thoroughly jealous of my colleagues in Hong Kong and HKBU."
Professor Elvin Ong
Facebook post, 4 September 2020
"Even after all these years I remember your classes and some of your lectures so clearly. What I absorbed most was your spirit of fearless enquiry, which is society's best bet to better itself. It was an honour to be your student."
Shriya Mohan, UNDP
Email, 26 May 2022