The Public Service Division (PSD) has announced that Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, who has served over four decades in public service, will retire on Sept 1.
This is among two other announcements relating to permanent secretary appointments announced on Thursday (July 30).
Prof Tan, 67, is currently Permanent Secretary of National Research and Development (NRD), and Public Sector Science and Technology and Plans Office (S&TPPO) in the Prime Minister's Office.
He graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1983 and began his medical career as a renal physician, later taking on concurrent hospital and academic roles at NUS and the National University Hospital (NUH).
Between 1997 to 1998, Prof Tan led the Department of Medicine at both NUS and NUH.
In 2000, he was appointed as director of medical services at the Ministry of Health, playing an instrumental role in leading Singapore's public health response to the 2003 Sars epidemic.
He was later appointed deputy chairman at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) from 2004 to 2017, and as NUS's president between 2008 and 2017.
In 2018, Prof Tan served as the executive director of the MOH Office for Health Transformation (MOHT) and as chief health scientist from 2018 to 2023.
He then became chairman of MOHT in 2023, while serving as the chairman of Healthier SG Implementation Office from 2022 to 2024.
He is credited with providing strategic leadership in raising public service's science, technology and innovation capabilities since being appointed as permanent secretary at NRD and S&TPPO.
In its statement, PSD said that Prof Tan shaped and steered the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2030 planning process, and contributed to efforts to align national research and innovation investments with long-term strategic priorities.
He also contributed to the implementation of national research initiatives to strengthen research data and compute capabilities, PSD added.
Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister-in-charge of Public Service Chan Chun Sing thanked Prof Tan for his "outstanding and impactful contributions" to the public service.
"He has served with distinction to strengthen our capabilities in the areas of healthcare, higher education, research and innovation," the coordinating minister said.
Other permanent secretary appointments
PSD also announced that outgoing Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) chief Ng Chad-Son will be appointed permanent secretary.
The 51-year-old will take over Prof Tan's appointments at the NRD and S&TPPO.
In addition, Ng will also be concurrently appointed permanent secretary for defence development at the Ministry of Defence from Sept 1.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary for Defence Development Melvyn Ong, 51, will relinquish his present appointment, but continues as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment.
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