SMU has received a $3m donation from lifestyle and wellness products firm V3 Group, headed by OSIM founder Ron Sim, to set up the V3 Group Professorship in Family Entrepreneurship. The donation will go towards supporting research and programmes on best practices in family entrepreneurship by the SMU Business Families Institute (BFI), of which Mr Sim has been a Founding Family member since 2013. The professorship was launched at the BFI’s fifth anniversary gala dinner celebration on July 27.
SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer said that SMU is looking forward to continuing its longstanding partnership with Mr Sim and the V3 Group. And he added that the gift will strengthen BFI’s knowledge base and its research on issues pertinent to business families, continuing BFI’s position as South-east Asia’s pioneer regional business family-centric institute focused on addressing the needs of business families in the region.
Professor Annie Koh, SMU’s Vice President, Office of Business Development, and Academic Director of BFI said that Mr Sim’s donation reinforces that family business entrepreneurs are not only concerned about long-term development and growth, but also giving back to the community and going global.
