Message from the President
Message from the President
LASALLE celebrated its 40th anniversary with a series of glittering events: from charity art auctions and distinguished alumni exhibitions to a Gala Night graced by Singapore’s President, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, with his spouse Ms Jane Ittogi, both of whom have strongly supported the College’s development over many years.
Since LASALLE was founded in 1984 by the visionary educator and sculptor Brother Joseph McNally, with a first cohort of just 27 students, that figure has now grown almost a hundred-fold. In just four decades, the College has developed to become the thought leader in arts and design education in Singapore and the region, at the cutting edge of pedagogy, research and contemporary practice. We continue this through innovative use of generative AI and evolving technologies, and by exploring what we’re calling ‘The Future of Entertainment’, with ambitious VR, interactive and telematic projects in collaboration with leading arts school partners around the globe.
This academic year we expanded those partnerships significantly, signing agreements with 27 institutions across the UK, US, Europe and Asia, and hosted many visiting delegations including the International Association of La Salle Universities (IALU), to deepen our LASALLian ties and collaborations around the world.
Our global profile was strengthened considerably by the news that we rose to our highest ever position in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, breaking into the top 101–150 globally in the category of Art & Design for the first time, while retaining our top 51–100 rank in Performing Arts. LASALLE remains Southeast Asia’s top specialist arts institution for Performing Arts and joint top in Art & Design; and within the top four specialist institutions across all of Asia in both those categories.
This significant achievement was complemented by national institutional awards such as the Silver Ribbon Singapore Mental Health Award 2024 (Schools category) in recognition of the College's initiatives to raise awareness about mental health and to empower students through enhanced communications, new resources, and a highly supportive environment. Against competition from household-name companies, LASALLE won its first ever Effie Award in Singapore’s most prestigious advertising and marketing competition. The outstanding 2024 student recruitment campaign Make it all happen at LASALLE received great acclaim, and LASALLE was one of just 12 brands invited to present its campaign at the Effie Learning Festival, attended by 600 industry professionals.
LASALLE won the most awards of any Southeast Asian university in a number of competitions, including the international Design and Art Direction (D&AD) New Blood Awards and Creative Conscience Awards. Our students swept three out of the top four categories at the Asia-Pacific Crowbar Awards with Best of Show, Best of Film/Photography and Best of Design, in addition to eight Golds, nine Silvers and 18 Bronzes. There were stunning successes too at the Singapore Youth Film Festival, including prizes for Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography.
It has been one of the most successful years for prestigious awards in LASALLE’s history, which is testament to the outstanding imagination, skills and creativity of our students. Alumni were also in the spotlight with a Young Artist Award for Zhang Fuming, a Silver Award in the 43rd UOB Painting of the Year (Established Artist Category) for Dana Lam, and a Best Singapore Short Film prize for Calleen Koh at the Singapore International Film Festival 2025.
It has been a truly memorable 40th anniversary year, with other highlights including a visit from Minister for Education Mr Chan Chun Sing and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Shawn Huang, and research conferences organised in partnership with Trinity College Dublin, University of the Philippines Diliman, and the National University of Singapore. An exciting new academic year awaits, starting with the launch of a cutting-edge new BA (Hons) Music Business programme which is set to break new ground as it explores music’s digital futures, and nurtures the nation’s next generation of managers, agents, producers and online entrepreneurs.
I hope you will enjoy browsing the Year in Review, and taking a look back at some of the wonderful highlights from a milestone year at LASALLE.
Professor Steve Dixon
President
LASALLE College of the Arts
Since LASALLE was founded in 1984 by the visionary educator and sculptor Brother Joseph McNally, with a first cohort of just 27 students, that figure has now grown almost a hundred-fold. In just four decades, the College has developed to become the thought leader in arts and design education in Singapore and the region, at the cutting edge of pedagogy, research and contemporary practice. We continue this through innovative use of generative AI and evolving technologies, and by exploring what we’re calling ‘The Future of Entertainment’, with ambitious VR, interactive and telematic projects in collaboration with leading arts school partners around the globe.
This academic year we expanded those partnerships significantly, signing agreements with 27 institutions across the UK, US, Europe and Asia, and hosted many visiting delegations including the International Association of La Salle Universities (IALU), to deepen our LASALLian ties and collaborations around the world.
Our global profile was strengthened considerably by the news that we rose to our highest ever position in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, breaking into the top 101–150 globally in the category of Art & Design for the first time, while retaining our top 51–100 rank in Performing Arts. LASALLE remains Southeast Asia’s top specialist arts institution for Performing Arts and joint top in Art & Design; and within the top four specialist institutions across all of Asia in both those categories.
This significant achievement was complemented by national institutional awards such as the Silver Ribbon Singapore Mental Health Award 2024 (Schools category) in recognition of the College's initiatives to raise awareness about mental health and to empower students through enhanced communications, new resources, and a highly supportive environment. Against competition from household-name companies, LASALLE won its first ever Effie Award in Singapore’s most prestigious advertising and marketing competition. The outstanding 2024 student recruitment campaign Make it all happen at LASALLE received great acclaim, and LASALLE was one of just 12 brands invited to present its campaign at the Effie Learning Festival, attended by 600 industry professionals.
LASALLE won the most awards of any Southeast Asian university in a number of competitions, including the international Design and Art Direction (D&AD) New Blood Awards and Creative Conscience Awards. Our students swept three out of the top four categories at the Asia-Pacific Crowbar Awards with Best of Show, Best of Film/Photography and Best of Design, in addition to eight Golds, nine Silvers and 18 Bronzes. There were stunning successes too at the Singapore Youth Film Festival, including prizes for Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography.
It has been one of the most successful years for prestigious awards in LASALLE’s history, which is testament to the outstanding imagination, skills and creativity of our students. Alumni were also in the spotlight with a Young Artist Award for Zhang Fuming, a Silver Award in the 43rd UOB Painting of the Year (Established Artist Category) for Dana Lam, and a Best Singapore Short Film prize for Calleen Koh at the Singapore International Film Festival 2025.
It has been a truly memorable 40th anniversary year, with other highlights including a visit from Minister for Education Mr Chan Chun Sing and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Shawn Huang, and research conferences organised in partnership with Trinity College Dublin, University of the Philippines Diliman, and the National University of Singapore. An exciting new academic year awaits, starting with the launch of a cutting-edge new BA (Hons) Music Business programme which is set to break new ground as it explores music’s digital futures, and nurtures the nation’s next generation of managers, agents, producers and online entrepreneurs.
I hope you will enjoy browsing the Year in Review, and taking a look back at some of the wonderful highlights from a milestone year at LASALLE.
Professor Steve Dixon
President
LASALLE College of the Arts
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