Lee Kuan Yew
Tuesday,
October 19, 2006
The Gregg and Molly Engles Lecture
Lee Kuan Yew has earned a special place in history for his leadership role in negotiating Singapore's independence from Britain in 1958. He was elected the first prime minister of the Republic of Singapore in 1959 and won re-election seven times before his resignation in 1990. Under Lee's leadership, Singapore became a center of international trade and a financial and industrial powerhouse, despite its small size and limited natural resources. Since relinquishing his position as prime minister, Lee has remained one of the most influential politicians in Singapore. He served as senior minister under his immediate successor, Goh Chok Tong, and currently holds the specially created post of minister mentor under his son Lee Hsien Loong, who became the nation's third prime minister in 2004.
Lee, who was born in Singapore, received a law degree with honors in 1949 from Cambridge University in England and was admitted to the English bar in 1950. After his return to Singapore, he became a popular nationalist and helped found the People's Action Party in 1954. He led the party in its general election victory in 1959 and subsequently became prime minister.