A student of philosophy and history, Kishore Mahbubani has had the good fortune of enjoying a career in government and in writing on public affairs. With the Singapore Foreign Service from 1971 to 2004, he had postings in Cambodia (where he served during the war in 1973-74), Malaysia and Washington DC, and he served two stints as Singapore Ambassador to the UN. He served as President of the UN Security Council in Jan 2001 and May 2002. He was Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1998.
In the world of ideas, he has spoken and published articles in many places. His first article was published in "Foreign Affairs" in 1983; it has been followed by articles and op-ed pieces in a variety of journals and newspapers. For his writings and other contributions, he has been profiled in the "Economist" and in "Time Magazine" and his writings have been widely cited and quoted. He is the author of "Can Asians Think?" (published in Singapore, Canada, US, Mexico, India and forthcoming in China).
His experience in public service and in the world of ideas has come to serve him well in his current appointment as the first Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Concurrently, Mr Mahbubani continues to serve in an advisory capacity to various institutions in Singapore and North America.
Mr Mahbubani was awarded the President's Scholarship in 1967. He graduated with a First Class honors degree in Philosophy from the University of Singapore in 1971. From Dalhousie University in Canada he received a Masters degree in Philosophy in 1976 and an honorary doctorate in 1995. He also spent a year as a fellow at the Center forInternational Affairs at Harvard University, from 1991 to 1992.
He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) by the Singapore Government in 1998. He received the Foreign Policy Association Medal in New York in June 2004; its citation described him as "A gifted diplomat, a student of history and philosophy, a provocative writer and an intuitive thinker."
