Barry Desker
Barry Desker is a Singapore diplomat and corporate executive. He is the non-resident ambassador to the Vatican and Spain, as well as Singapore's representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. Desker also serves as the chairman of the board of governors of Singapore Technologies Marine. He is a trustee of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, as well as a distinguished fellow and former dean of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He is also a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights.
He was Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia from 1986 to 1993. He retired from the foreign service in 1993 and was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Trade Development Board. He was Singapore's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was previously on the Boards of Sime SembCorp Engineering Sdn Bhd, Sembawang Engineering and Construction and Jurong Port.
Desker took over as director of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in 2000. The IDSS was expanded to a full graduate school and policy-focused think tank in 2007, and was renamed as the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Desker stepped down as dean of the school in 2014.
Desker, a President's Scholar, graduated from the University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts degree and obtained his master's degree from the University of London.
Desker is also an Asia-Pacific member of the Trilateral Commission.
