Professor Leong Siew Meng was a committed teacher, an astute scholar, an inspiring mentor and a loyal member of the NUS Business School for over 30 years. As Head of the Marketing Department, Vice Dean of Research and Dean of the Business School, Siew Meng held a no-nonsense stance in how the Department and School were run. He believed in doing what is right rather than what is convenient.
Many know Siew Meng for his wit and intelligence. He would have made a successful sharp-tongued litigator or a hilarious stand-up comedian. In class, students laughed till tears rolled down their cheeks as he spontaneously wove thematic jokes one after another in relevance to a marketing concept. True too is that Siew Meng did not suffer the unmotivated. Students received his ire if they came ill-prepared for class; who in turn learnt to bring their A-game.
To his professors and friends from the University of Wisconsin where he received his PhD, Siew Meng was the student who had a solo-authored Journal of Marketing article before graduation. Soon after, he received his “Triple Crown” with publications in Journal of Marketing Research and Journal of Consumer Research.
To his colleagues at NUS, Siew Meng was both a marketing and a finance maven. He would often spend time with his finance colleagues discussing ferociously about the stock and property markets, and even horse racing! Sometimes, one wondered whether he was more suited to be a finance professor.
Siew Meng also believed that despite the massive administrative portfolio, a Dean should keep in close touch with students. To this end, Siew Meng continued teaching during his tenure as the Dean. He also selflessly donated all his Deanery stipend to the School.
This uncompromising spirit persevered even when he was ill. Despite being confined to a wheel chair, breathless after taking more than half an hour just to get dressed on his own, Siew Meng would tenaciously master the strength to continue to teach in his unique, charismatic way and selflessly share as much of his insights as he could to sharpen his students’ analytical skills. He put the interests of his students first.
To Siew Meng whose favourite movie character is Star Trek’s Spock, “live long and prosper”.
