Tan Tai Yong () is a Singaporean academic who is the current President of Singapore University of Social Sciences. He served as the President of Yale-NUS College from 2017 to 2022. He is also Chairman of the Management Board of the Institute of South Asian Studies, an autonomous university-level research institute in NUS. He was a former

Nominated Member of Parliament A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a non-partisan member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the president to contribute independent and diverse perspectives to parliamentary debates. They are not affiliated to any pol ...

and served from 2014 to 2015.

Education

Tan earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

. He then earned a PhD in South Asian history from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, under the supervision of Anthony Low.

Career

Tan was a Deputy Head of the Department of History at NUS from 1998 to 1999. He also served the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as Sub-Dean (1994-1999), Acting Head of the Department of History (2000), Head of the History Department (2001-2003), Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2001-2003), Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2004-2008), Vice Provost of Student Life (2010-2014) overseeing student matters, University Town and the Residential Colleges, the Centre for English Language and Communication, as well as the Office of Student Affairs and the Halls of Residence. He was the Founding Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies, and served in this position from 2008 to 2015. He served as Co-chair of the joint Yale and National University of Singapore committee in 2011. Tan was appointed to the Singapore Social Sciences Research Council in 2016. 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 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. Tan was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2009, and the Public Service Medal in 2020. Tan also served as Executive Vice-President (Academic Affairs) at Yale-NUS College from 2014 to 2017, before serving as its President from 2017 to 2022. He is currently serving as the President of Singapore University of Social Sciences since 1 January 2023.

Research

Tan's research interests are in the areas of

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

diaspora, civil-military relations, social and political history of colonial

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, and the partition of South Asia. Lately, he has shifted his attention to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, and has been exploring issues of networks formation and the place of maritime cities in the region.

Selected publications

* ''The Idea of Singapore: Smallness Unconstrained'', Singapore, 2019. * ''Singapore: Seven Hundred Years – A History of Singapore'', Singapore, 2019. ''City'' (with Kwa Chong Guan and Derek Heng and Peter Borschberg, 2019 *''A 700 Year History of Singapore. From Classical Emporium to World City'' (with Kwa Chong Guan and Derek Heng), National Archives Singapore, 2009. * '' Creating "Greater Malaysia": Decolonization and the Politics of Merger'' * * * ''Beyond Degrees: The Making of the National University of Singapore'' (with Edwin Lee). Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1996. * ''Singapore Khalsa Association''. Singapore: Times Books International, 1988. (Second Edition, published by Marshall Cavendish, 2006)

Prize and fellowship

Some of the prize and fellowship awards received by Tan Tai Yong includes: *Moncado Prize for outstanding essay published in the Journal of Military History, 2001 *British Academy Visiting Professor, 2003 (attached to

Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL (2000–2012) was a research and teaching centre within University College London dedicated to the history of medicine. It was created through a grant from the Wellcome Trust, on the mo ...

, University College London). *Overseas Commonwealth Fellowship and Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College and Centre for South Asian Studies, Cambridge University, 1999 *Shell Medal in History, NUS, 1986 *Straits Steamship Book Prize, 1985 *6th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

at the

Institute of Policy Studies (Singapore) The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) is a think-tank that studies and generates public policy ideas in Singapore. It is an autonomous research centre of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. History ...

References

External links

Homepage at NUSYale-NUS College Profile Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Tai Yong Historians of South Asia Singaporean people of Teochew descent Yale-NUS College Academic staff of the National University of Singapore Singaporean Nominated Members of Parliament Living people National University of Singapore alumni Singaporean historians Year of birth missing (living people)