Q&A with Professor Lily Kong

• Main Author: Royal Geographical Society
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: President; Singapore Management University; academic career; Asian Studies; Higher Education
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/smu_oh/49; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/smu_oh/article/1048/viewcontent/20240526_RGSOnline_News_ProfLilyKong_1.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

SMU President Professor Lily Kong has been conferred the Royal Geographical Society (with the institute of British Geographers) Victoria Medal 2024 for conspicuous merit in social and cultural geography and in urban research. The Medal recognises Prof Kong’s exceptional intellectual leadership, demonstrated through her scholarship and contributions to the internationalisation of geography. She is also the first Asian woman, in over 120 years, to be accorded this honour. In an interview, Prof Kong shared about her role and work as the first Singaporean woman to be appointed President of any university in Singapore, as well as the highlights of her career to date. She also spoke about the projects she is working on, including a project on smart cities in Southeast Asia, undertaken collaboratively with a colleague at SMU. When asked what was one thing she wished she had learnt earlier in her career, Prof Kong said that she wished she had invested time in research questions where she felt she was going to make some impact on communities earlier in her career. She also shared her hopes for academia in the future.