Hall of Fame

Gary PAN

Associate Provost (Lifelong Learning); Professor of Accounting (Education)
School of Accountancy

Excellent Teacher Award: 2020 (Honour Roll 2020 till 2024 for UG awards), 2026 (Hall of Fame)

Teaching Excellence in Postgraduate Professional Programmes: 2023

SMU-X Excellent Teacher Award: 2018

Innovative Teacher Award: 2013

Through nearly two decades of teaching at SMU, Professor Gary Pan has consistently sought to move students beyond the passive acquisition of knowledge towards active, applied, and reflective learning. His courses integrate technology, business simulations, industry-based case studies, and project-based learning to prepare students for the demands of a rapidly evolving world. 

He has developed and taught courses across undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional & continuing education programmes, including Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Analytics Capstone, Audit and Assurance Work-Study Elective, Introduction to Data Analytics for Accounting and Finance Professionals, and the Integrated Learning Project. Other than his five SMU Teaching awards, he has also received SOA Teaching Awards/SOA Dean’s List for Teaching Excellence every year since 2016. Internationally, he has received The American Accounting Association's Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Outstanding Instructional Contribution Award (2018), First Prize for the Howard Teall Innovation in Accounting Education Award (2023), and multiple QS-Wharton Reimagine Education Awards (2022, 2021, 2016).

A strong advocate of engaging and collaborating with industry partners, Gary has co-developed and co-taught the Accounting Analytics Capstone, in which students work with industry partners to analyse real-world datasets, apply analytical techniques and develop actionable recommendations for partner organisations. His commitment to real-world learning is further reflected in the ten teaching cases he has written to teach undergraduate and postgraduate modules in SMU, many of which have been used by faculty from other universities beyond Singapore. One of his cases ("Daung Capital: Managing the Credit Risk Challenges of Microfinance in Myanmar", SMU Case Series, 2020) became the top-selling SMU case at Harvard Business Publishing Education during the October to December 2021 period. 

Gary's impact is evident in the experiences of his students, who consistently describe him as approachable, engaging, and effective in making complex concepts understandable. They value his practical examples, industry insights, and actionable advice, particularly his ability to connect theory with real-world applications. His students' feedback reflects the extent to which Gary's teaching philosophy is brought to life in the classroom: through relevant, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences. 

SEOW Poh Sun

Professor of Accounting (Education)
School of Accountancy

Teaching Excellence in Postgraduate Professional Programmes: 2024 (Hall of Fame), 2020

Excellent Teacher Award: 2017 (Honour Roll 2017 till 2021 for UG awards), 2014

Innovative Teacher Award: 2022, 2015

Professor Seow Poh Sun is an educator dedicated to the integration of student-centred teaching, real-world relevance, and technology within the classroom. Over his 14 years at SMU, he has taught a range of courses including Financial and Management Accounting, Accounting Information Systems, Financial Accounting, Financial Accounting for Service Sector Analytics, Financial Accounting for Financial Services. Within SMU, Poh Sun has earned six SMU Teaching Excellence Awards across both undergraduate and postgraduate categories, including a place on the SMU Teaching Excellence Honour Roll from 2017 to 2021. Beyond SMU, his commitment to teaching excellence has garnered him prestigious teaching accolades from institutions across Asia, Europe, and North America. Most notably, in 2023, Poh Sun became the first academic in Singapore to receive the Outstanding Accounting Educator Award from the American Accounting Association, further affirming his significant contributions to SMU’s international standing.

Poh Sun’s passion for learning experiences that are engaging, personalised and technology-enabled is evident in the innovative, award-winning teaching tools co-developed with colleagues, such as the “Red Flags Accounting Fraud" and “SMU Challenge” mobile-gaming apps, as well as the “Resource-Event-Agent (REA) Data Model online e-learning tutorial. These resources have also been generously shared with and widely adopted by both regional and global institutes of higher education, benefitting students and instructors across the world, and bearing testament to his global impact on accounting education.

Beyond teaching, Poh Sun is actively engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning, having received two Ministry of Education Tertiary Education Research Fund grants in 2015 and 2019, and regularly publishes in peer-reviewed journals in accounting and business education. Not surprisingly, he is frequently invited to contribute his pedagogical services on curriculum within SMU, as well as at the national and international level. Given his reputation for sustained teaching excellence, it is not surprising that Poh Sun is often invited to share his insights as a speaker or panellist at both local and international educational conferences.

Poh Sun is truly an inspiring legend for peers and students alike. In him, the SMU community finds a model of excellence for igniting and sustaining a passion for lifelong learning.

Rosie CHING Ju Mae

Principal Lecturer of Statistics
School of Economics

SMU-X Excellent Teacher Award: 2021

Excellent Teacher Award: 2016 (Honour Roll 2016 till 2020 for UG awards), 2013

Innovative Teacher Award: 2011

Special Award for Innovation: 2008

Principal Lecturer of Statistics Rosie Ching has earned numerous accolades throughout her 18-year career at SMU, demonstrating excellence in teaching, innovation, and mentorship. In addition to her five SMU Teaching Excellence Awards, she has won several international honours, such as the Wharton-QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) Stars Reimagine Education Awards.

Ms Ching teaches a range of courses across undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive development programmes, focusing primarily on statistics and research techniques. In her Introductory Statistics undergraduate SMU-X course, students apply statistical methods to raise public awareness about important social issues. Some partner organisations students have worked with include the Samaritans of Singapore, Parkway Cancer Centre, Caregivers Alliance Limited, Alzheimer's Disease Association, Guide Dogs Singapore, and the World Toilet Organisation. The course is well-known for its interactive and engaging nature, concluding each term with a stage show finale by students that draws large audiences, sometimes including Ministers as guests of honour.

Ms Ching’s dedication to student success, combined with hands-on learning, contribute to the effectiveness of her teaching approaches. Students value her passion and efforts, appreciating the real-life examples, games, experiments, and creative props she uses to illustrate statistical concepts, making the subject relatable and understandable. Students have also commented that the course enhances their perseverance, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills. Despite the course’s demands, Ms Ching leaves a lasting impact, making statistics enjoyable and memorable even for those initially uninterested in the subject. Her commitment extends beyond the classroom, as she often offers personal support and care to her students during challenging times.

She has also contributed to the scholarship of teaching and learning through the creation of innovative games, presentations at faculty development events, and the publication of conference papers. Additionally, her mentorship has led to student victories in statistical competitions.