Professor Choon Fong Shih is the Founding President of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), serving from 2008 to 2013, and a renowned fracture mechanics expert. “Under his guidance KAUST has become internationally respected among the world’s best faculty,” said KAUST Board chairman and Saudi Oil minister Ali I. Al-Naimi in tribute to Prof. Shih.

Before joining KAUST, he was president of the National University of Singapore (NUS) for nine years and has been widely acknowledged for creating the University's research-intensive focus with an entrepreneurial dimension, as well as for NUS' elevated global reputation.

Prof. Shih was a key driver for the formation of the International Alliance of Research Universities, and led the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) for four years. He was the Founding Chair of the Governing Board of the APRU World Institute and served on national-level committees such as the Economic Review Committee, which crafted wide-ranging strategies for the re-making of Singapore.

Shih is among the most highly cited researchers in the world within the engineering category compiled by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). Shih became the first Singaporean to be elected as a Foreign Member to the US National Academy of Engineering and as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004 and 2006 respectively. He was awarded the French decoration "Chevalier" in the Order of the "Legion d'Honneur" in 2005. In 2007, Shih received the inaugural Chief Executive Leadership Award for Asia Pacific presented by the Council for Advancement and Support for Education. In 2018, he received Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal for his innovative research and leadership in higher education.

Shih has served and serves on various advisory boards and councils including Alexander von Humboldt Foundation IAB, Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Judging Panel, MIT, Stanford University, Peking University, among others. He is a University Professor at the National University of Singapore and serves as senior advisor to the President of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.