A leading Indonesian family has donated approximately $3.8 million USD ($5 million SGD) to help fund INSEAD’s new Leadership Development Center, which is scheduled to open on INSEAD’s Singapore campus in January 2015. The new building will be home to the “William and Lily Soeryadjaya Amphitheater,” in honor of the gift from the Soeryadjaya family.
The opening of the new Leadership Development Center next month marks “Phase Three” in INSEAD’s Asia expansion, which is designed to significantly increase the number of students, executives, leading scholars and practitioners who will be on site in Singapore. INSEAD also features campuses in Fontainebleau, France, and Abu Dhabi.
The gift, announced today, was made in honor of the late William Soeryadjaya and his wife Lily. Soeryadjaya co-founded PT Astra International, Indonesia’s largest conglomerate, with interests in finance, plantations, heavy machinery and automobiles.
Forced to end his own education at the age of 19 and sell rice and paper to make ends meet, Soeryadjaya believed strongly in the value of professional education. He began working with INSEAD in 1972, regularly sending his company’s executives there to participate in management training programs. He also invited INSEAD faculty to deliver programs in Indonesia.
“The Leadership Development Center in Singapore, which will open in January, is a significant milestone for INSEAD in our continued growth within Asia,” INSEAD Dean Ilian Mihov said in a statement. “Naming the largest amphitheater, at the heart of this new business innovation center, seems a most fitting way to recognize William and Lily Soeryadjaya’s commitment to learning.”
The donation was made by William and Lily Soeryadjaya’s children – Mr. Edwin Soeryadjaya, Mr. Edward Soeryadjaya, Ms. Joyce Kerr and Ms. Judith Soeryadjaya – to help INSEAD provide broader global management training in Asia.
“Our long association and involvement with INSEAD has done so much more than just improve the efficiency of PT Astra International,” daughter Joyce Kerr said in a statement. “INSEAD has been extremely influential in helping to support my parents’ vision to improve living conditions for Indonesians, and has undeniably improved the lives of many individuals through education,” she continued.
