[10 March 2004]
AmCham establishes its first local scholarship programme at SMU

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) today presented an education gift of S$100,000 to the Singapore Management University (SMU). The gift will go towards the establishment of the AmCham Scholarship at SMU, marking it as the first major program AmCham has sponsored at a tertiary institution in Singapore.

AmCham has also generously committed to raise an additional S$300,000 from its members, making a total contribution S$400,000. This will allow for the award of one new AmCham scholarship a year, building up to a steady state of four scholarships in perpetuity.

Professor David B. Montgomery, Dean, SMU School of Business said, “SMU is a business university with the aim to groom outstanding business leaders and creative entrepreneurs. As a university committed to excellence and leadership, we are delighted to have AmCham on board with us as a donor as we share a common interest in encouraging entrepreneurship as well as promoting the understanding of business issues locally and abroad. The strategic alliance also illustrates the confidence of the business community in SMU.”

Nicholas de Boursac, Executive Director of AmCham added, “AmCham is pleased to pick SMU as our partner for the AmCham Scholarship which supports our mission to contribute to business in Singapore and further develop US-Singapore business cooperation. We are confident the collaboration will encourage academic excellence by motivating and recognising exceptional talents.”

The AmCham scholarship, valued at S$6,000 per annum, will be offered to one full-time SMU Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) undergraduate of outstanding character with proven leadership qualities, good academic and extracurricular activities performance and a demonstrated interest in business. The scholarship is tenable for the full duration of studies, up to a maximum of four years, subject to good academic performance.

The AmCham Scholarship was officially launched at AmCham’s breakfast talk on “What influences an MBA's Job Choice?” by Professor David B. Montgomery, Dean, SMU School of Business. The talk provided participants with the opportunity to learn more about the decision making of today's MBA graduates, using modern market research methodologies validated over the past 30 years of research at Stanford.