Paulin Tay Straughan (born 8 April 1963) is the dean of students at

Singapore Management University The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university is the only city campus in Singapore. It ranks third in Asia as a specialist university, behind Hong Kong University of Science and Techn ...

(SMU), where she is also a professor of

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

(practice). She was an associate professor and vice-dean at the National University of Singapore from 1991 to 2017.

Early life and education

Straughan was educated at the

Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus The Sisters of the Infant Jesus, also known as the Dames of Saint Maur, are a religious institute of the Catholic Church originating from Paris, France and dedicated to teaching. History Origins In 1659 Barré, who was a respected scholar wi ...

and

Catholic Junior College Catholic Junior College (CJC) () is a junior college in Singapore, offering a two-year course for pre-university students leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examination. Founded in 1975, Catholic Junior College was the third j ...

, before going on to complete a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in sociology and statistics at the National University of Singapore. She then went on to the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where she earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in sociology.

Public service

From 2009 to 2012, Straughan served as a

Nominated Member of Parliament A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the president. They are not affiliated to any political party and do not represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in the Parl ...

(NMP). She received the Public Administration Medal (Bronze), Prime Minister's Office in 2010. On 24 August 2018, Straughan was appointed as one of the 86

Justice of Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

by President of Singapore,

Halimah Yacob Halimah Yacob (Jawi script: ; born 23 August 1954) is a Singaporean politician and former lawyer who has been serving as the eighth president of Singapore since 2017. Prior to her presidency, she was the country's Speaker of the Parliament of S ...

Research

Straughan has researched on cancer and fatalism, marriage, parenthood and ageing population, and public cleanliness in Singapore.

Selected bibliography

Books

* Jones, Gavin W.; Straughan, Paulin Tay; and Chan, Angelique Wei Ming (2012). Ultra-low fertility in Pacific Asia: Trends, causes and policy issues. ''Research Collection School of Social Sciences.'' Paper 2194. * Straughan, Paulin Tay (2011). Towards a cleaner Singapore: Sociological study on littering in Singapore. National Environment Agency. * Straughan, Paulin Tay (2009). Marriage dissolution in Singapore: Revisiting family values and ideology in marriage. Leiden: Brill.

Book chapters

* Straughan, Paulin Tay (2015). Marriage and parenthood in Singapore. In David Chan (Ed.), ''50 Years of Social Issues in Singapore'' (pp. 61–73) Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Company. http://doi.org/10.1142/9789814632621_0004

Articles

* Feng, Qiushi; Straughan, Paulin Tay (2017). "What does successful aging mean? Lay perception of successful aging among elderly Singaporeans." ''Journals of Gerontology'', Series B, 72 (2), 204-213. http://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbw151 * Straughan, Paulin Tay; Seow, Adeline (2000). "Attitudes as barriers in breast screening: a prospective study among Singapore women." ''Social Science and Medicine'', 51 (11), 1695-1703. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00086-1 *Straughan, Paulin Tay; Seow, Adeline (1998). "Fatalism reconceptualized: A concept to predict health screening behavior." ''Journal of Gender, Culture, and Health'', 3 (2), 85-100. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023278230797

References

External links

Paulin Tay STRAUGHAN Profile at SMU website

The accidental academic to varsity dean
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tay Straughan, Paulin Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean Nominated Members of Parliament Academic staff of the National University of Singapore Living people Catholic Junior College alumni 1963 births Singaporean women in politics Singaporean sociologists Medical sociologists