Tony Tan

Tony Tan
陈庆炎
Tan in 2016
7th President of Singapore
In office
1 September 2011  31 August 2017
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byS. R. Nathan
Succeeded byHalimah Yacob
Chairman of the People's Action Party
In office
1 September 1993  3 December 2004
Preceded byOng Teng Cheong
Succeeded byLim Boon Heng
Ministerial offices
Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
In office
1 August 1995  1 September 2005
Serving with Lee Hsien Loong (1990–2004) and S. Jayakumar (2004–2005)
Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded byGoh Chok Tong
Ong Teng Cheong
Succeeded byWong Kan Seng
S. Jayakumar
Coordinating Minister for Security and Defence
In office
1 August 2003  1 September 2005
Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded byOng Teng Cheong
Succeeded byS. Jayakumar
Minister for Defence
In office
1 August 1995  1 August 2003
Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong
Second MinisterTeo Chee Hean
Preceded byLee Boon Yang
Succeeded byTeo Chee Hean
Minister for Finance
In office
24 October 1983  1 January 1985
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
Preceded byHon Sui Sen
Succeeded byRichard Hu
Minister for Trade and Industry
In office
1 June 1981  17 February 1986
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
Preceded byGoh Chok Tong
Succeeded byLee Hsien Loong
Minister for Education
In office
2 January 1985  1 January 1992
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
Goh Chok Tong
Preceded byGoh Keng Swee
Succeeded byLee Yock Suan
In office
1 June 1980  31 May 1981
Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew
Preceded byGoh Keng Swee
Succeeded byGoh Keng Swee
Parliamentary offices
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Sembawang GRC
(Sembawang)
In office
3 September 1988  20 April 2006
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byKhaw Boon Wan (PAP)
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Sembawang SMC
In office
10 February 1979  17 August 1988
Preceded byTeong Eng Siong (PAP)
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Tony Tan Keng Yam

(1940-02-07) 7 February 1940
Singapore, Straits Settlements
Political partyIndependent (2006–present)
Other political
affiliations
People's Action Party
(1979–2006)
Spouse
Mary Chee
(m. 1964)
Children4
RelativesTan Chin Tuan (uncle)
Alma materUniversity of Singapore (BS)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS)
University of Adelaide (PhD)
Signature
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChén Qìngyán

Tony Tan Keng Yam (Chinese: 陈庆炎; pinyin: Chén Qìngyán; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean banker and politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017.

Prior to entering politics, Tan was a general manager at OCBC Bank. He made his political debut in the 1979 by-elections as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate contesting in Sembawang GRC and won. He later served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 1995 to 2005. After resigning from the cabinet in 2005, Tan was appointed deputy chairman and executive director of GIC, chairman of the National Research Foundation, and chairman of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). He stepped down from all his positions in 2010 before contesting the 2011 presidential election as an independent candidate.

Tan won the 2011 presidential election in a four-cornered fight and served as the president of Singapore until 2017. He did not seek re-election in the 2017 presidential election, which was reserved for Malay candidates following a constitutional amendment. His presidential term ended and he officially retired on 1 September 2017. He was succeeded by Halimah Yacob on 14 September 2017.