Mr Teo Chee Hean was appointed Deputy Prime Minister on 1 April 2009. He also serves, since 21 May 2011, as Coordinating Minister for National Security. He is also Minister in charge of the Civil Service, oversees the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group, including the National Population and Talent Division and the National Climate Change Secretariat, and is Chairman of the National Research Foundation.
In the first phase of his career, he served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) where he held various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Joint Staff. In 1991, he was appointed Chief of Navy, and was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.
In December 1992, he left the SAF to seek elected public office and was elected as a Member of Parliament in a by-election in the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC). He was re-elected to Parliament five times in the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
He has served as the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Defence, Minister for Education, and Minister for the Environment. He has also served as Minister of State in the Ministries of Finance, Communications and Defence.
He was awarded the President’s Scholarship and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Scholarship in 1973. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) in Electrical Engineering and Management Science from the University of Manchester in 1976. He subsequently attained a Masters of Science degree (with distinction) in Computing Science in 1977 at the Imperial College in London, and a Masters in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in 1986, where he was named a Littauer Fellow.
