TAN Hui Boon graduated from the University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Chemistry.  He had his secondary education at Raffles Institution.

After graduation he joined the Industrial Research Unit under the Economic Development Board as a chemist for over three years.  He then received a Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue further studies in UK.  He obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Chemical Engineering and a Masters of Science (BioChemical Engineering) with Distinction from University College, London University.  He returned to the Singapore Institute of Standards and Research as an Assistant Director.

In 1971, he obtained his professional membership of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK.  In 1974, after completing his bond, he joined the Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), a fully owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines as the Administrative Manager and rose to the rank of Divisional Manager in SATS Cargo in 1978 and General Manager of Administration in 1980.  By 1984, he was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of SATS Catering Pte Ltd.  His illustrious career continued as he undertook the position of Director of Finance at Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA) from 1989 to 1994, the first science graduate to do so.  In 1994, he was appointed the Chief Executive of SATS Airport Services.  In 1998, he returned to SIA as the Senior Vice President (Special Projects) involved in strategic investments, an appointment he held until he retired in 2000.

In his 27 years at SIA, he attended management programme at Sloan, MIT, and Harvard and the finance programme at IMD in Switzerland.

During his career in the SIA Group, he served on the Board for a number of companies including Asia Airfreight Company in Hong Kong, Beijing Aviation Ground Services in Beijing, Raffles City and R.C. Hotels in Singapore.  After his retirement he also served on the Boards of Changi International Airport Services and China Aviation Oil until recently.