Prof. Dr. Paul Teng

Prof. Dr. Paul Teng is a Senior Consultant at the National Institute of Education International (NIEI), the consultancy and outreach arm of NIE. Previously, he served as NIEI’s Dean and Managing Director from January 2018, following his role as NIE Principal Officer from July 2014. Before that, Prof. Teng was Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies & Professional Learning at NIE from November 2006 to 2014. He was Head, Natural Sciences and Science Education (NSSE) Academic Group from 2004 to 2006. Under his leadership, NSSE has an increased student enrolment, expanded staff strength and significantly increased its research grantsmanship and teaching contributions. He has also increased NSSE’s local and regional visibility.   

Prof Teng received his PhD from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand in 1978. He pursued his Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Lincoln College, University of Canterbury and in 1973, graduated with First Class Honours. He did post-doctoral work at the Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.  Prof Teng has held leadership positions at the WorldFish Centre, the International Rice Research Institute, in U.S. universities (Minnesota and Hawaii) and in the private sector. His pro bono positions include being a Senior Fellow at the South-East Asian Centre for Graduate Studies and Research in Agriculture in the Philippines, Adjunct Professor in Murdoch University, Australia, and as Senior Adviser to several startup enterprises in agtech and urban farming. 

Prof Teng has extensively researched food security generally, and specifically on the role of plant diseases in causing epidemics and crop losses in several continents, working cooperatively with a network of national programme scientists. The work has led to over 250 journal papers, eight books and numerous conference papers, and recognition by peer organisations. His pioneering work on using system analysis and computer modelling techniques to quantify and predict biological phenomena, and conduct risk assessments, is still having impact today in the USA and Asian rice growing countries. More recently, he has devoted his time to researching science communication and science entrepreneurship to meet the needs of new economies. He is a regular invited speaker on agricultural biotechnology, other disruptive technologies and their roles in transforming agriculture and rural economies.  

Prof Teng has served on many national and international committees, and is currently Chair, Board of Directors, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications and non-Executive Chair, Asia Biobusiness Pte Ltd. He was previously a member of the Board of Directors of the International Consortium for Agricultural Systems Applications, the International Advisory Board of the C T de Wit Graduate School of Production Ecology in Wageningen University, and the Editorial Board of Agricultural Systems and Philippines Phytopathology, and also President of the Board of the Asia-Pacific Regional Technology Centre, Thailand. He is a past Chairman of the Epidemiology Committee of the International Society of Plant Pathology and is Associate Editor of Food Security. Prof Teng has also been a regular consultant for FAO, the World Bank and several other international and regional organisations. He has started and divested two small businesses on technology brokerage. 

Prof Teng has won awards such as the Eriksson Prize in Plant Pathology in 1987, given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences every five years to a scientist who has made significant contributions to solving plant disease problems affecting developing countries. He is a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences, the American Phytopathological Society, the International Society of Plant Pathology, and was co-recipient of the 2001 CGIAR Excellence in Science Award for Outstanding Scientific Article. He has also been cited in the 1996-97 Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering. In 2021 he was admitted as a Fellow, ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology. For his contributions to food security, Prof Teng was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by Murdoch University, Australia.