In 1981, Professor Cham Tao Soon became the founding President of Nanyang Technological University, which he relinquished in December 2002. He was also the former Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Trustees of SIM University and a member of the SIM Governing Council.
Prof Cham is also the Chairman of NSL Ltd, Singapore Railway Academy, Singapore Quality Award (SQA) Governing Council and Soup Restaurant Group. In addition, he served as a board member of Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Chairman of the Singapore Symphonia Company (SSO) and was a former member of the Council of Presidential Advisers. He was Chairman of MFS Technology, Nanyang Fine Arts Foundation and Singapore-China Foundation (SCF). He was also Deputy Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings, as well as a director of United Overseas Bank.