Singapore Graduates First Global LL.M. Class

The Law School’s Singapore Program marked a milestone, graduating its first class. Thirty-nine students from 21 countries across six continents graduated from the 10-month dual-degree program, earning an LL.M. in Law and the Global Economy from NYU and an LL.M. from the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Attending the March ceremony at Singapore’s Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore Minister for Finance and Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam lauded the program for its “unique content and multinational composition.” U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Patricia L. Herbold, Singapore’s Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Law Chan Lai Fung also were guests.

One highlight was a speech by Wangui Kaniaru ’07 (LL.M. ’08) in which she quoted Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, a British colonial administrator credited with founding the port city of Singapore: “It would be difficult to name a place on the face of the globe with brighter prospects or more present satisfaction.”

“In a world-embracing city,” Kaniaru noted, “we have experienced a world-embracing program, and the challenge and opportunity we have been given is to be world-embracing lawyers.”

The program grew out of a conversation in 2002 between University Professor and Joseph Straus Professor of Law Joseph Weiler, then-director of NYU’s Hauser Global Law School Program, and NUS Dean Tan Cheng Han. Demand for the program has been strong, with about 200 applicants each year. More than 50 students from 24 countries are due to graduate next year.

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