Founder and Chairman, Sunway Group
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah AO is the founder and chairman of Sunway Group, one of Southeast Asia’s leading conglomerates with core interests in real estate, property, construction, hospitality, retail, education and healthcare.
He is also the founder and trustee of Malaysia’s largest education-focused social enterprise, Jeffrey Cheah Foundation (JCF). His lifelong dedication to sustainable development is evident in the host of thriving communities throughout Sunway’s integrated developments and townships, sprawling more than 5,000 acres across Malaysia.
Sustainability is nurtured not only in developments and townships, but also through the realisation of dreams: Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah is a champion and advocate of quality education and world-class research, making them accessible to deserving students through JCF scholarships.
As a strong advocate of quality education and research as well as sustainable development, Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah continues to fulfil his personal life philosophy of “aspiring to inspire before I expire”. He had transferred, in perpetuity, the equity and rights of Sunway Education Group’s (SEG) educational institutions, worth several billion Ringgit, into the JCF.
Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah’s vision of evolving SEG into the intellectual and cultural hub of the East has seen JCF establishing academic ties with some of the world’s preeminent universities including University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and University of Oxford.
The appointment of Jeffrey Cheah Professors at each of these universities aim to facilitate a two-way flow of scholars and researchers between the world-class institutions and the Southeast Asian region.
He is also the mastermind behind the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia (JCI), the first public-policy think tank based in a private university in Malaysia, to conduct and promote joint research and teaching on economies, societies, politics, and cultures in Southeast Asia.
JCF Scholarships
awarded more than RM618 million and counting
Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah AO’s
personal aim
is to award RM1 billion worth of scholarships in his lifetime
Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia (JCI)
Malaysia’s first public-policy think tank based in a private university
In the healthcare sector, it all began with Sunway Medical Centre. What started as a single tower at Sunway City Kuala Lumpur in 1999 has expanded to five towers, becoming Malaysia’s largest private hospital.
This achievement has been recognised, having received international awards that rank Sunway Medical Centre alongside the established Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok and above Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.
Sunway’s healthcare division has already expanded to the Velocity township in Cheras, Kota Damansara, and Singapore, with plans for new centres in Seberang Jaya, mainland Penang, Sunway City Ipoh, and Sunway City Iskandar Puteri in Johor.
The partnerships with renowned educational institutions have led to the establishment of Malaysia’s first private teaching hospital linked with Cambridge University Medical School.
Other prestigious partnerships include one formed among Sunway University, Sunway Medical Centre, and Harvard Medical School that has inspired the development of the annual Southeast Asia Leadership (SEAL) programme. This programme empowers healthcare leaders and frontline clinicians in the region to provide the highest standards of care. More recently, Sunway Medical Centre also partnered with the Royal College of Physicians London to host a centre featuring the world’s most renowned specialists, covering the latest trends and developments in acute and general medicine.
Sunway Medical Centre, Sunway City Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia’s largest private hospital with close to 1,200 beds
Partnerships with Cambridge University Medical School, Harvard Medical School and Royal College of Physicians London
An award-winning healthcare facility named as Medical Tourism Hospital of the Year in the Asia-Pacific region
Taking a momentous step forward in the sustainability agenda, Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah through the JCF, has partnered with the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) led by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, a renowned economist and a champion of sustainable development. Together, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed.
The partnership sets the foundation for the establishment of the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University.
The Center is a regional hub for research and policy practices, creating world-class programmes related to sustainable development to train a new generation of students, practitioners and policy leaders, as well as to develop links with major Malaysian and international universities in seeking effective solutions to SDG-related issues.
The Center also serves as the host for SDSN Malaysia, chaired by Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah. SDSN Malaysia was launched in 2013 to elevate awareness and implementation of sustainable solutions in Malaysia, and beyond.
As a reflection of Sunway’s full embrace of the sustainability agenda and commitment to advancing the SDGs in the Asian region, Sunway City Kuala Lumpur has been selected as one of the three overarching United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN-SDSN) centres alongside New York City and Paris to coordinate continent-wide sustainability initiatives for Asia, the Americas and Europe as well as Africa respectively.
Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah is also the co-chair of global initiative Mission 4.7, which was launched by Pope Francis alongside world leaders namely UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network President Professor Jeffrey Sachs, UNESCO assistant director-general for education Ms. Stefania Giannini and Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences at the Vatican in 2020. Mission 4.7 aims to accelerate the implementation of SDG Target which calls upon governments to ensure that learners acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attributes needed to achieve the SDGs.
An exemplary partnership
Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah AO and Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs
Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development
A regional hub for research and policy
SDSN Malaysia
For awareness and the implementation of sustainable solutions in Malaysia and beyond
Besides being conferred 12 honorary doctorates by leading universities worldwide, Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah was also appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (“AO”) by the Prime Minister of Australia for his contribution in building bilateral relations between Malaysia and Australia through education.
In 2018, he was also conferred Malaysian Institute of Management’s (MIM) Court of Emeritus Fellow.
Forbes Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy
2009, 2015, 2019, 2021
Appointed Council Member of United Nations (UNSDSN)
2013
Member of Harvard’s Global Advisory Council
2014
2023
Named Putra Personality of the Year, which recognises his accomplishments in building one of Malaysia’s most iconic brands and lifelong commitment to nation-building through education, healthcare and sustainable development.
2022
Appointed Co-Chair of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation Sustainability Advisory Committee to steer the Foundation towards the path of sustainability.
2021
Named Forbes Asia’s 2021 Heroes of Philanthropy, he is the second philanthropist in Asia to be included in this definitive list on four occasions. He was previously recognised in 2019, 2015 and 2009
2021
Conferred the Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy for Leadership in Health Education and Sustainability Networks by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2020
First non-Muslim recipient to receive the Hunayn Ibn Ishaq Unity Award alongside Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Muhammad at the Islamic Excellence Awards 1441H/2020AD
2019
Received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Sin Chew Education Awards
2019
Appointed as Chairman of Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Malaysia chapter
2019
Conferred the Asian Association of Management Organisations (AAMO) Asian Leadership Award
2019
Awarded Editor’s Choice Award for Malaysia’s Exemplary Leader of Sustainable Development 2019 by EdgeProp Malaysia’s Best Managed Property Awards 2019.
2019
Awarded the UK-Malaysia Business Personality Award at the BMCC Business Excellence Awards 2019
2019
Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award at the 5th Fortune Times Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner
2019
Named Forbes Asia’s 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy for the third time. He is the only Malaysian who has made the definitive list for three years.
2018
Conferred Malaysian Institute of Management’s (MIM) Court of Emeritus Fellow
2017
Awarded the ASEAN@50 Lifetime Achievement Award by ASEAN Business Advisory Council Malaysia
2017
Received the inaugural Sustainability Icon Award by RAM
2016
Awarded the Channel NewsAsia Lifetime Achievement Luminary Award 2016.
2016
Honorary Fellow of Brasenose College, University of Oxford.
2016
Conferred Malaysian Institute of Management’s (MIM) Malaysian Leadership Excellence Award.
2016
Companion of the University of Cambridge Guild of Benefactors.
2016
Appointed as Member of the Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors, University of Oxford.
2016
Conferred Honorary Doctorate of Education by University of Malaya.
2016
Recipient of the Victoria University Distinguished Alumni Award.
2015
Conferred Honorary Fellow by the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM).
2015
Appointed Founding Chair for the Malaysian 30% Club.
2015
Honoured with the Lifetime Excellence Achievement Award under the Sin Chew Business Excellence Awards 2015.
2014
Matriculated as a member of Caius, and admitted as a Gonville Fellow Benefactor of Gonville; Caius College, University of Cambridge.
2014
Value Creator: Malaysia’s Outstanding CEO by The Edge Billion Ringgit Club.
2014
Awarded Prominent Player Award by Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia.
2014
President’s Award by Malaysia Institute of Planners (MIP).
2013
Appointed as Council Member of United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN).
2013
Received the Malaysia Outstanding Property Personality Award by The Edge Malaysia.
2012
Received the Honorary Gold Award from the Royal Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur, in recognition of his leadership and development of education and research in Malaysia.
2006
Installed as Chancellor of Sunway University Malaysia by His Royal Highness Sultan of Selangor.
