President Tharman to receive MIT award for his leadership in international financial policy

26/11/2025 1 Views

SINGAPORE – President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be receiving an award from an American research centre in recognition of his leadership in international financial policy.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Golub Center for Finance and Policy is awarding Mr Tharman the Miriam Pozen Prize, the MIT Sloan Office of Communications said on Nov 25. He will be the third recipient of the biennial prize.

Mr Tharman will deliver the Miriam Pozen Lecture at an award ceremony on Dec 9 at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

He will receive a $200,000 prize, and a fellowship named in his honour will also be awarded to an incoming MIT Sloan Master of Business Administration student, to be selected in 2026. The President’s Office said Mr Tharman will be donating the prize money to charity.

Mr Tharman’s work in this area has spanned decades. Over more than 20 years in politics, his roles included Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for Social and Economic Policies, Deputy Prime Minister as well as Finance and Education Minister.

He chaired the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 2011 to 2023, and was its managing director before entering politics in 2001.

On the international stage,

he currently chairs the board of trustees of the Group of Thirty

, an independent global council of leading economic and financial policymakers, and is a member of the board of trustees of the World Economic Forum.

His past roles include leading the International Monetary and Financial Committee and chairing the G-20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance.

The Miriam Pozen Prize is awarded in honour of the late mother of Mr Robert C. Pozen, a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan, the former president of Fidelity Investments and executive chairman of MFS Investment Management, who endowed the award.

The MIT Sloan Office of Communications said the prize supports the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy’s mission. The centre promotes innovative, cross-disciplinary and non-partisan research and education that tackle the challenges governments face as financial institutions and regulators of the financial system.

Past recipients of the award are the former head of the Bank of Israel and vice-chair of the US Federal Reserve Stanley Fischer, in 2021; and former Italian Prime Minister and president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, in 2023.

Mr Tharman said he was privileged to receive the prize.

“I hope it helps advance ideas for the principled stewardship of public finances, and renewed construction of a cooperative international order – both critical to addressing the most pressing issues of our times,” he added.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth said the university is delighted to welcome Mr Tharman to its campus to accept the honour and share his wisdom with its students.

She added: “MIT has a long history of fruitful collaboration with Singapore and a deep appreciation of President Tharman – his leadership in research and education, his dedication to public service and his insightful, compassionate approach to global policy challenges.”

Mr Pozen said he was pleased that the judges had selected Mr Tharman as this year’s honouree.

He said: “(Mr Tharman) combines the deep insights of a well-trained economist with the willingness to apply his ideas to policymaking, and he is a model for the application of financial science to practice that the Miriam Pozen Prize is intended to encourage.”

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