Mr Bernard Nee

Deputy President (Industry & Community) and Dean, SIT School of Lifelong Learning & Career Development (SITLEARN)

Mr Bernard Nee is Deputy President (Industry & Community) and Dean, SIT School of Lifelong Learning & Career Development (SITLEARN). He assumed the role of Dean of SITLEARN on 1 September 2026, and Deputy President (Industry & Community) on 1 April 2023.

As Deputy President (Industry & Community), Bernard is responsible for industry and future sensing, corporate communications, as well as collaborations with companies and agencies for applied learning and research. He actively engages companies, trade associations, government agencies and various interest groups to advance SIT’s mission and vision. In his capacity as Dean, Bernard provides strategic leadership for SITLEARN, leading SIT's lifelong learning and industry engagement efforts, while strengthening the University's contribution to Singapore's skills-first and workforce transformation agenda.

Bernard brings deep experience from previous leadership roles at the Economic Development Board (EDB), the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Energy Market Authority (EMA). As the Deputy Chief Executive of EMA (2012-2021), he managed over $200 million in energy R&D funding, and forged partnerships with PSA Singapore, Sembcorp Industries, Keppel Offshore & Marine, SP Group and Shell to nurture the energy ecosystem. His team launched the Energy Story (a national blueprint enabling Singapore’s energy transformation), introduced regulatory sandboxes, nurtured a competitive industry workforce and pushed Singapore’s solar and energy storage ambitions. His portfolio also included oversight of EMA’s corporate functions.

Prior to 2012, he was with EDB for 18 years, where he held senior management roles. including Executive Director in charge of Natural Resources, Strategic and Corporate Planning, and Chief Information Officer. He seeded a team to incubate high-growth clusters that could contribute $1 billion to Singapore’s GDP within 10 years. In 2005, he was seconded to the NRF as the pioneering Director to establish policies, processes, and systems to manage the $5 billion RIE2010 budget.

A recipient of the EDB scholarship, Bernard possesses a Masters in Management of Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduated with an MSc and BSc (with University Honours) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.