Ambassador Barry Desker is the Dean of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Mr Desker is also the Chairman of the Board of Governors

Board of governors

Board of governors is a term sometimes applied to the board of directors of a public entity or non-profit organization.Many public institutions, such as public universities, are government-owned corporations. The British Broadcasting Corporation was managed by a board of governors, though this role...

 of the Jurong Port Pte Ltd and Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd. He is a Trustee

Trustee

Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...

 of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

He was Singapore’s Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 to Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 from 1986 to 1993. He retired from the foreign service in 1993 and was appointed the Chief Executive Officer

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 (CEO) of the Trade Development Board (1994-2000). He is currently the Co-Chair of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). He was Singapore's Deputy Permanent Representative

Permanent Representative

A Permanent Representative is the head of a diplomatic mission to one of various international organisations. The best known of the organisations to which states send Permanent Representatives is the United Nations; of these, the most high-profile ones are those assigned to headquarters in New...

 to the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He was previously on the Boards of Sime SembCorp Engineering Sdn Bhd, as well as Sembawang Engineering and Construction Pte Ltd (now SembCorp Utilities Pte Ltd).

Mr Desker, a President's Scholar

President's Scholar

A President's Scholar is a recipient of the most prestigious class of university undergraduate scholarships awarded to Singapore citizens by the Government of Singapore. In most years, only 2-4 President's Scholarships are awarded...

, graduated from the University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) degree and obtained his Masters degree from the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

.

Publications in 2006

• Commentaries and Articles:
  • Southeast Asia Casts Wide Net for Cooperation, Barry Desker, YaleGlobal, 30 May 2006
  • Casting a net wide for cooperation, Barry Desker, The Statesman (India), June 11, 2006 Sunday
  • Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao; Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi (Casting a net wide for cooperation), Barry Desker, Bangkok Post, 18 June 2006
  • Southeast Asia casts wide net for cooperation, Barry Desker, The Daily Times (Pakistan), June 05, 2006
  • Time for a ‘Plan B’ for the WTO? - Or how to Rescue the Doha Round, Barry Desker, 22 June 2006
  • Time for a Plan B to rescue the WTO talks, By Barry Desker, June 24, 2006, for The Straits Times
    The Straits Times
    The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
    
    ,

• Book Chapter:
  • Re-thinking the Safety of Navigation in the Malacca Straits in Barry Desker, Maritime Security in Southeast Asia, John K. Skogan and Kwa Chong Guan (eds) Oxon, UK: Routledge (forthcoming)

• Conference Paper:
  • Disciplining Preferential Trade Agreements, Barry Desker and Margaret Liang, The Cornell Law School and the University of Beijing (Beida) in Beijing on May 22-25, 2006.

Publications in 2007

• Commentaries and Articles:
  • Why APEC Needs Results in Sydney , By Barry Desker, September 7, 2007, RSIS Commentaries,
  • ASEAN : Time to Suspend Myanmar , By Barry Desker, October 4, 2007, RSIS Commentaries,
  • ASEAN: Act on Climate Change , By Barry Desker, October 15, 2007, RSIS Commentaries,