Professor Paul Cheung

Professor Paul Cheung, a national of Singapore, is the Director of United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat.

Prior to his appointment, Professor Cheung has served as Chief Statistician of the Government of Singapore (1991-2004). In this role, he has been the National Statistical Coordinator as well as the Chief Executive of the Singapore Department of Statistics.

Born in Hong Kong, Professor Cheung received his education in Singapore and the United States. He did postgraduate work at the East-West Center, Hawaii, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He received his PhD in 1983 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. He has taught at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University for many years since graduation on full or part-time basis.

Professor Cheung served as President of the International Association of Official Statistics, (2001-2003). He was the past Chairman of the Governing Board, Statistical Institute of Asia and the Pacific (UN-SIAP), the Chair of the UNESCAP Committee on Statistics, as well as Chairman of the Regional Advisory Board of the Asian Development Bank's International Comparison Program for Asia and the Pacific.

Professor Cheung is well known in the Asia and the Pacific region for his pioneering research in the fields of manpower, population, social planning and official statistics. He has written widely in his areas of research.

He has received the following national and professional awards:  The Von Neumann-Spallart Medal awarded by the International Institute of Statistics (1999); The Public Administration Medal (Gold) ‘Pingat Pentadbiran Awam’ awarded by the President of the Republic of Singapore (2001); The Honorary Doctorate Degree by the National University of Mongolia (2008).