Tommy Koh


Tommy Koh Thong Bee is a Singaporean international lawyer, professor and diplomat. He was also Singapore's former Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Early life and education

Koh was born in Singapore on 12 November 1937. His father was from Tong'an, Fujian and his mother was from Shanghai. He graduated from Raffles Institution and Serangoon Secondary School and received a LL.B. degree from the University of Malaya in Singapore. He holds a LL.M. from Harvard University and a post-graduate Diploma in Criminology from Cambridge University. He was conferred a full professorship in 1977. Koh was awarded an honorary LL.D. degrees from Yale University and Monash University. He has also received awards from Columbia University, Stanford University, Georgetown University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Curtin University.

Career

Koh is an international law professor, action and Ambassador-at-Large for the Singaporean government. He presently serves as Special Adviser at the Institute of Policy Studies, Chairman of the National Heritage Board, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Centre for International Law, and Rector of at the National University of Singapore. He is on secondment from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law.
Koh was President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, 1980–1982. Lax and Sebenius present Koh and his efforts in getting the Convention passed, as an example of successful negotiating. 1990 to 1992 he served as Chairman of the Main Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, where he presided over the negotiations on Agenda 21. He has also served as Singapore's ambassador to the United Nations and the United States.
Koh was the first Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation, established in Singapore in 1997 by the countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting.
On 9 August 2008, Koh was conferred with the Order of Nila Utama by the Singaporean government for his outstanding contributions in the Singapore legislative team representing Singapore in the Pedra Branca dispute case with the Malaysian government.
In 2014, Koh received the Great Negotiator Award from Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School for his multiple contributions to diplomacy, most notably his work as chief negotiator for the United States–Singapore Free Trade Agreement, his work around developing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, his important efforts in resolving territorial and humanitarian disputes in the Baltics and Asia, and his success in leading both the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea and the UN Conference on Environment and Development.
Koh is on the panel of mediators for Singapore International Mediation Centre.

Selected writings