KC started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 25, building a successful private education empire in Singapore. As a bold contrarian, he brought UK and Australian higher education to Singapore at a time when most Singaporeans were seeking to pursue their degrees overseas.

He founded Stansfield College, Singapore in 1993 and subsequently became its Chairman and Chief Learning Officer of Learning. Prior to this, he was the Managing Director of John Winfield Consultants and Singapore Institute of Commerce. With offices, campuses and student hostels in Singapore, China and India, the group offered courses in the fields of law, management, business, information systems and engineering amongst others.

Now aged over 60 years, KC is recognized as a prominent entrepreneur and educationist with several awards under his belt and with over 25 years of experience in the field of higher education in Singapore.

An advocate for lifelong learning, KC sets the example with several degrees from internationally renowned universities. He graduated with a high honours degree in Business Administration from Michigan State University (USA) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London. He also holds a Master of Laws from the National University of Singapore and attended postgraduate courses in Education Management at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

KC also holds a Master of Laws and a Graduate Certificate in International Arbitration from the National University of Singapore and has been admitted as a Fellow by the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. He is a Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Marketing and past Chairman of an Advisory Committee in a local public educational institution. He was also appointed as a Singapore Quality Class Assessor with the Spring Singapore (Productivity and Standards Board) and has led assessment teams to conduct quality assurance audits on several large organisations in Singapore including Keppel Shipyard and the Costal Command (COSCOM).

His extensive knowledge and experience on entrepreneurship and change management has lead to many speaking engagements at the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore Polytechnic, Junior Colleges and as guest speaker at various events organised by the chambers of commerce in Singapore and India.

KC’s notable achievements includes being a Finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002 (Rotary-ASME), Finalist in the Phoenix Award 2003 and receiving the award of Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 by the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and DBS bank. True to his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for the environment, KC has now set his eyes on alternative clean energy projects, something he had been steadfastly working on for the past 20 years alongside his other businesses. Driven by the belief that one has to actively contribute to climate action, KC pursued a Masters degree in Environmental Law at the prestigious University of California, Berkeley and developed innovative technologies in battery management systems to improve energy output and efficiency. He has already been granted several worldwide patents including 4 US patents.

About Kannappan Chettiar (KC)

To KC