Tan attended Raffles Institution between 1974 and 1979 before graduating from the National University of Singapore in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) degree in mathematics.
In collaboration with Roger Howe, he has written a graduate-level textbook on non-Abelian harmonic analysis full of beautiful mathematics that is not as well known as it deserves to be.
[15][12] Tan received the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam, Emas (Public Administration Medal, Gold) in Singapore's National Day Awards 2014.
[17] He was conferred the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal by the Yale Graduate School Alumni Association in 2018,[18] and received an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Southampton, UK in the same year.
[19] Tan was conferred the title of Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honour on 5 July 2022, in recognition of his distinguished contributions in education and research.