Dr. Ling San

Dr. Ling San is a Distinguished Nanyang Professor in mathematical sciences at NTU Singapore. He was previously President’s Chair in Mathematical Sciences from April 2019 to June 2025. Professor Ling joined NTU Singapore in April 2005 as the Founding Head of the Division of Mathematical Sciences in the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS). He has served as Chair, SPMS, and Dean of the College of Science before being appointed as Provost and Vice President (Academic) on 1 January 2018. He became Deputy President and Provost on 1 January 2020, till 30 June 2025. Before joining NTU, he spent 13 years at the National University of Singapore (NUS). 

Between August 2022 and July 2024, Professor Ling also served concurrently as the Chief Scientific Advisor for the National Research Foundation, Singapore. He is also a member of the Committee of Government Scientific Advisors, Singapore. Since July 2025, he has been serving as Senior Deputy President at VinUniversity, Hanoi, Vietnam. 

Professor Ling’s research interests are in applications of algebra and number theory to combinatorial designs, coding theory, cryptography, and sequences. He has published around 260 journal and conference papers and two textbooks, and edited several conference proceedings. His research has clinched more than 25 million Singapore dollars in funding.

He is also a visiting scholar at institutions such as the University of California (UC), Berkeley, CNRS, INRIA, ENS Lyon, Macquarie University, and Hanyang University, among others. 

Professor Ling is a recipient of the Singapore Youth Award (Science and Technology) in 2001, National Science Award (Team) in 2003, Fellowship of the Singapore National Academy of Science in 2014, Public Administration Medal (Gold) from the President of the Republic of Singapore in 2024, and the Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award from UC Berkeley in 2025. 

He is active in serving the professional community. Professor Ling has previously been a Vice President of the Singapore National Academy of Science, President of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society and the Singapore Mathematical Society, and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association for Cryptologic Research. He currently serves on the Management Board of the Institute for Mathematical Sciences at NUS, the International Board of Overseers of Sabancı University, Turkey, and the International Advisory Council of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia. He has also served as a reviewer for research funding agencies in Singapore and abroad.

Professor Ling obtained his BA and MA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, and his PhD in Mathematics from UC Berkeley.