Professor Tan Tai Yong is the second President of the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). Before he joined SUSS, Professor Tan was President, Yale-NUS College. Prior to this, he held various academic and leadership appointments in the National University of Singapore (NUS). These included Vice Provost (Student Life), Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and Head of the History Department.

Professor Tan is Chairman of the Institute of South Asian Studies. He is a member of the National Library Board (NLB) and the National Heritage Board (NHB), where he is also Honorary Chairman of the National Museum, co-chair of the Founders’ Memorial Committee and Chair of the National Collection Advisory Panel.

From August 2018 to May 2019, Professor Tan was the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS)’ 6th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. He is also a member of the Ministry of Education’s Singapore Social Sciences Research Council. Professor Tan was a Nominated Member of Parliament from 2014 to 2015. He was awarded the National Day Administration (Silver) Award in 2009 and the Public Service Award in 2020.

A graduate of NUS, Professor Tan completed his doctorate at Cambridge University. He specialises in South and Southeast Asian History and has published extensively on the history of India and Singapore.

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