Tan will be appointed Director and Special Advisor from 1 January 2018. Personal life Tan's paternal grandfather was Tan Cheng Siong, the former general manager of OCBC Bank. His uncle was former Chairman of OCBC Bank, Tan Chin Tuan. Through his maternal grandmother Annie Tan Sun Neo, he is also a great-great-great grandson of philanthropist Tan Kim Seng. When Tan was a first year physics student in 1959 at the University of Malaya—the predecessor of the National University of Singapore—at Bukit Timah campus, he met an arts undergraduate whom he fell in love and would marry five years later. Tan married Mary Chee Bee Kiang in 1964 and they have children together. Honours In 2005, Tan was presented the NUS Eminent Alumni Award in recognition of his role as a visionary architect of Singapore's university sector. In 2010, he was presented the inaugural Distinguished Australian Alumnus Award by the Australian Alumni Singapore (AAS) at its 55th anniversary dinner in recognition of his distinguished career, and his significant contribution to society and to the Australian alumni community. Tan was awarded a medal from the Foreign Policy Association in 2011 for "outstanding leadership and service". In 2014, Tan was conferred an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the University of Adelaide, for his "long record of outstanding achievements both as a leader in the Singapore government and in the business sectors. He was also made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. In 2018, Tan received the top honour of the Order of Temasek (First Class) during Singapore's National Day Awards. References |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- 1940 births Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Independent politicians in Singapore Living people MIT School of Engineering alumni Deputy Prime Ministers of Singapore Ministers for Defence of Singapore Finance ministers of Singapore Members of the Parliament of Singapore Academic staff of the National University of Singapore People's Action Party politicians Presidents of Singapore Saint Joseph's Institution, Singapore alumni Singaporean Anglicans Singaporean mathematicians Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Singaporean politicians of Chinese descent University of Adelaide alumni University of Singapore alumni Recipients of the Darjah Utama Temasek Ministers for Education of Singapore Ministers for Trade and Industry of Singapore