B.A. (NUS), M.A. Dist., Ph.D. (Birmingham)

Specialisations: South Asian Diaspora; Transnational identities, nationalism and the postcolonial history and politics of South Asia

Rajesh Rai is Associate Professor and Head of the South Asian Studies Programme (SASP), National University of Singapore (NUS).

Recognised as a leading scholar in the field of Indian Diaspora and Heritage studies, he has authored and edited several major works including: Indians in Singapore, 1819-1945: Diaspora in the Colonial Port City (Oxford University Press, 2014); Singapore Indian Heritage (Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2017) (ed. with A. Mani); Encyclopedia of the Sri Lankan Diaspora (Singapore: Editions Didier Millet: 2013) (ed. with Peter Reeves & Hema Kirrupalani); Religion and Identity in the South Asian Diaspora (London: Routledge: 2013) (ed. with Chitra Sankaran); South Asian Diaspora: Transnational Networks and Changing Identities (London: Routledge: 2009) (ed. with Peter Reeves) amongst others. Rajesh was also assistant editor of the Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora (Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2006), a highly acclaimed volume that has gained global recognition for its path-breaking contribution to Indian diaspora studies. His articles have been published in premier academic journals such as Modern Asian Studies, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies and South Asian Diaspora. He is recognised for his excellence in teaching for which he has won several awards at the National University of Singapore. Beyond his academic credentials, A/P Rai holds distinguished positions in charitable organisations in Singapore, and has been a member of the Indian Heritage Centre’s Advisory Board since 2015. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Sammaan by the India International Centre for his contributions to the scholarly understanding of Indian communities around the world.