The Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitors Program hosts academics and scholars from around the world, and was established in 1983 in honor of the former prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. Dean Speth will visit Singapore from Jan. 15 to 22 and present public lectures at the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Environment Council.
Cheong Hin Fatt, dean of the School of Design and Environment National University of Singapore, said Dean Speth's visit coincides with his university's 100th anniversary. "The Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitorship is a highly prestigious award offered to internationally eminent and outstanding academics and scholars," said Dean Cheong. "While the program has brought many distinguished visitors from various disciplines, this is the first time that it brings a world leader in the field of the environment."
At the National University of Singapore, Dean Speth will examine whether international environmental law is adequate to address global environmental challenges in his talk, "International Law and the Global Environmental Crisis." At Nanyang Technological University, he will review the urgency of the climate change challenge, what this challenge will mean for business, and the need for a revolution in technology in his address on "The Severity of Climate Risks, The Business Community, and the Coming Technological Revolution." At the Singapore Environment Council, he will assess the seriousness of major global–scale environmental threats, examine the approaches that have been adopted thus far to deal with them, and will propose eight steps to a sustainable future in "The Crisis of the Global Environment: How Real? How Urgent? What Must Be Done?"
Before joining Yale in 1999, Dean Speth founded and was president of the World Resources Institute, co–founded the Natural Resources Defense Council, served as adviser on environmental issues for presidents Carter and Clinton, and was chief executive officer of the United Nations Development Programme.