Lily Chan | Chief Executive & Vice Chancellor
Wawasan Open University

Dr Lily Chan is the Chief Executive and Vice Chancellor of Wawasan Open University (WOU) in Penang, Malaysia. Dr Chan is a passionate advocate for open distance learning (ODL) to make higher education more accessible to all learners, regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances.  She drives new technological advances in ODL to enable the University to deliver flexible, personalised digital learning that empowers the workforce for the digital economy. WOU is at the forefront of using innovative tools to develop engaging and relevant learning experiences for its students. She set up the School of Digital Technology at WOU, which offers intensive, skills-centric degree programmes in Digital Business and Software Engineering.  The School has forged agreements with industry partners for the training and placement of its students, enabling them to acquire hands-on work experience. Dr Chan was previously the CEO of NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore.  She has transformed this division into one of the most esteemed higher education entrepreneurial ecosystems that nurtured hundreds of startup companies. Before helming NUS Enterprise, she was the Managing Director of Bio*ONE Investments, an investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board with a focus on expanding the growth of the biomedical science industry in Singapore. With over 30 years of leadership experience in the triple helix sphere of academia, industry and government, she plans to transform WOU into a leading distance learning institution in the country.