Dr Venka Purushothaman is an internationally recognised academic, arts and cultural leader and award-winning writer with a distinguished career in arts higher education and the cultural and creative industries.

As President, Dr Venka leads transformative academic and organisational developments, strengthening LASALLE’s global profile and advancing its role in the global knowledge economy. 

Before entering academia, Dr Venka served in pivotal and pioneering roles at key cultural institutions, including The Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, National Arts Council Singapore and the Victorian Arts Centre in Melbourne, building institutional strategies and capacities. He continues to serve in an advisory capacity with various national and international organisations today.

Internationally recognised for forging strategic and enduring international partnerships, expanding cultural and creative leadership and artists' ecosystems, Dr Venka, who was previously LASALLE’s Provost, founded the Asia-Pacific Network for Culture, Education, and Research (ANCER) to build cultural leadership and research capacities in Asia. He co-founded the Global Design Initiative—a cross-continental consortium advancing intercultural design education—and chaired the Board of Shared Campus, a collaborative network of leading arts institutions shaping new paradigms in global arts education.

Dr Venka’s thought leadership is globally recognised. He is affiliated with the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance (IFA, Germany) and is regularly invited to deliver keynote addresses and serve in advisory capacities worldwide. In recognition of his significant impact, he was conferred the Royal Order of Sahametri (Grand Knight Cross) by His Majesty the King of Cambodia in 2024 for his contributions to post-conflict Cambodia’s cultural development. In 2017, he was named University Fellow by Musashino Art University (Japan) for advancing transnational higher arts education. He serves on international boards in the arts and education, and holds several prestigious appointments: Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK, since 2010), McNally Fellow of the Ireland Funds Singapore (since 2015), and member of the Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art (France, since 2006).

A prolific writer and cultural historian, Dr Venka has authored influential works on Southeast Asian arts and cultural leadership, including The Art of Sukumar Bose: Reflections on South and Southeast Asia (ICAS Best Art Book Accolade, 2015) and Making Visible the Invisible: Three Decades of the Singapore Arts Festival (2007). He contributes to the global arts discourse through editorial roles in leading journals, including Afterall (Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London), Culture: Policy, Management, Entrepreneurship (National Taiwan University of the Arts), and ISSUE (LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore).

Dr Venka holds a PhD in Cultural Policy and Asian Cultural Studies from the University of Melbourne. He earned both his MA with a focus on Shakespeare and Postcolonial Studies and BA (Hons) in English Literature and Communication Studies from York University, Toronto.