Mary Seah joined SOTA from December 2018 and has been at its helm since. Prior to joining SOTA, she was appointed Principal of Tanjong Katong Girls’ School (TKGS) in 2011. Mary’s professional interests include organisational psychology, arts and creative education, and andragogy. She has shared extensively at educational platforms, and enjoys designing incubational spaces to foster the spirit of experimentation and growth. She has initiated a number of professional networks focused on school, curriculum leadership and innovation.
Mary began her teaching career at Raffles Junior College where she taught in the GCE A-Level Music Elective Programme and was later appointed the Head of Arts Department. Subsequently, she served as the Vice-Principal of Millennia Institute and Assistant Director, Standards and Research Branch at the Academy of Singapore Teachers.
Beyond education, Mary was on an attachment to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York, where she served as a Singapore delegate at the 63rd United Nations General Assembly. Upon coming back, she joined the Leaders in Education Programme, a principal preparation course at the National Institute of Education, where she became the Valedictorian of her class and winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Leaders in Education Programme Award.
A Music graduate from King’s College, University of London on a Public Service Commission scholarship, Mary is a passionate advocate for the arts, particularly in how it might be a language for young people to engage with and respond to complexities. At SOTA, she works alongside the faculties to develop the SOTA Integrative Learning Model, as well as the concept of cultural leadership in its students.