Dr Shashi Jayakumar assumed the appointment as Head, Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) on 1 April 2015, and the appointment of Executive Coordinator, Future Issues and Technology on 1 Aug 2017. Dr Jayakumar was educated at Oxford University where he studied History (BA 1997, D.Phil, 2001). He has published in various peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes on topics relating to medieval history (the focus of his doctorate). He was a member of the Singapore Administrative Service from 2002-2017. During this time, he was posted to various Ministries, including the Ministries of Defence, Manpower, Information and the Arts, and Community Development, Youth and Sports. He was from August 2011-July 2014 a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. His research interests include extremism, social resilience, cyber, and homeland defence. He is currently completing a major book project relating to local (Singapore) politics (forthcoming, National University of Singapore Press, 2021).