Professor De Meyer is the fourth President of Singapore Management University. Previously, he was Director of Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge where he was Professor of Management Studies and Fellow of Jesus College. He was associated for 23 years with INSEAD where he held various senior academic and administrative positions, including founding Dean of INSEAD’s Asia Campus in Singapore. Professor De Meyer has a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, MBA and PhD in Management from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He also pursued his studies as a visiting scholar at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). His research interests are in manufacturing and technology strategy; the implementation of new manufacturing technologies; the management of R&D; how innovation can be managed more effectively; project management under conditions of high uncertainty; management and innovation in Asia; the globalisation of Asian firms; the management of novel projects; and e-readiness in Europe. His work is published widely in academic journals and he has written several books. Professor De Meyer serves on several boards including the Human Capital Leadership Institute, National Research Foundation, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, Singapore Symphonia Company Limited and Temasek Management Services. He is an external director of Dassault Systèmes SA (France) and also Chair of the Strategic Advisory Committee of VITO, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Belgium).

Responsible for Barefoot College International, Meagan Fallone is currently steering the establishment of a further 6 Barefoot College Vocational Training Centres throughout Sub Saharan Africa, Latin America and SE Asia/Pacific; to triple the size of the Barefoot College by 2018. In addition, she is leading a significant move by the organisation towards digital integration both within the organisation and, in the hands of the thousands of rural poor illiterate and semi-literate women the college trains throughout the developing world. Her Indian based team of ‘Barefoot Innovators’ have developed and deployed a digital M&E platform to track QoL, empowerment, financial and sustainability impact within the program areas of the Barefoot College by leveraging a design centric strategy grounded in the inclusion of grass roots women, throughout its design and implementation. The Barefoot College helped develop innovative public, private and technology partnerships to allow 40 years of grassroots innovation to scale through the support of technology. The ‘Barefoot Approach’ focuses on Water management, Renewable Solar Energy, Livelihood & Enterprise creation and a unique solution to Rural Education for rural children that has today educated more than 75,000 young people. This dedication to creating information sharing across literacy, language, cultural barriers in true South/ South cooperation, is at the heart of the Barefoot College strategic vision. Ms Fallone advocates in all high level global forums for the Barefoot Approach through creation of Governmental and Multilateral partnerships. Since joining Bunker Roy in 2011 to scale the Women’s Barefoot Solar Initiative of community based, self-reliant and sustainable Solar Electrification, she has been a field presence in more than 52 countries since joining Barefoot College and currently guides field implementation and partnerships in 72 Countries. At the heart of curating an international curriculum designed with and for Illiterate and semi-literate poor rural women which empowers them towards enterprise activities and amplifies their agency and aspirations, she and her team have successfully crafted partnerships with UN Women, UNESCO, UNDP and many large Philanthropic Foundations. Since joining the leadership team at Barefoot College she has accomplished a challenging and deep organisational shift from a grass roots, India centred entity to a vibrant globally operating organisation, innovating towards the future.