Tony Tan

Tony Tan Keng Yam was born on February 7, 1940, in Singapore, then a British Straits Settlement, the eldest son of banker Tan Chin Tuan, who later led OCBC Bank, and Margaret Lien Mui Sien. He attended St. Patrick's School and St. Joseph's Institution, then read physics at the University of Singapore, graduating with first-class honors in 1962. He earned a master's in operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964 and a doctorate in applied mathematics from the University of Adelaide in 1967.

Tan lectured in mathematics at the University of Singapore before joining OCBC Bank, where he rose to general manager. In 1979 he entered politics on a People's Action Party ticket and won the Sembawang seat. Over the following two decades he served in nearly every major portfolio: Minister for Education (1980–1981 and 1985–1991), Minister for Finance (1983–1985), Minister for Health (1985–1987), Minister for Trade and Industry (1981–1986), Minister for Defence (1995–2003), and Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 2005. He stepped out of cabinet in 1991 to chair OCBC for four years before returning to government.

After leaving the cabinet in 2005 he chaired the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and the National Research Foundation. He resigned those posts in 2011 to contest the presidency, winning a four-way race by a margin of 7,269 votes to become the seventh President of Singapore. His six-year term ran from September 1, 2011, to August 31, 2017, during which he focused on philanthropy and youth volunteerism.

He married Mary Chee Bee Kiang in 1964; they have four children. Tan is a recipient of the Order of Temasek (First Class) and an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.

The name Tony is a short form of Anthony, from the Roman family name Antonius. A friendly masculine nickname spread by mid-twentieth-century anglophone usage, it fits a Singaporean technocrat who chose an English short form for public life while retaining his Hokkien given names.