Yusoff Abdul Hamid

Dato Paduka Haji Yusoff bin Haji Abdul Hamid (born 1 March 1949) is a retired diplomat and politician from Brunei who served as the Deputy Minister of Communications from 2005 to 2009, the high commissioner and ambassador to several countries, including the United States and United Kingdom.

Education
Yusoff attended college in the United Kingdom, earning a Bachelor of Arts (with honours) in economics from City of Birmingham Polytechnic in 1976. He proceeded to work as an administrative officer in the Treasury Department for four years after finishing his education. He got a Certificate in Financial management from the Royal Institute of Public Administration in London during this time in 1979.

Career
Yusoff worked as a private and confidential secretary to Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, the minister of foreign affairs, for the first half of the 1980s. In 1982, he further completed his study, earning a Diplomacy Certificate from Oxford University and attending a conference on the goals and techniques of development cooperation at the German Foundation in Berlin. He was the director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Economic Department from 1986 to 1988. While obtaining a master's degree in law and diplomacy at Tufts University in the United States in 1987. He was then appointed director of the ASEAN Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position he held until 1992.

Yusoff was appointed High Commissioner to Australia the following year and served for four years. His first ambassadorship was to Japan in 1996. In 1997, he was appointed deputy permanent secretary in the ministry, and in 2000, he was promoted to high commissioner to the United Kingdom and ambassador to Ireland. He was chairman of the Economic Development Board from 2001 until 2004. He was appointed ambassador to Belgium on 25 October 2004. The following year, he was appointed as the head of the Brunei Mission to the European Union, as well as ambassador to the Netherlands and Hungary, and as Brunei's permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Later same year, he was appointed deputy minister of communications, a position he held until he was appointed ambassador to the United States. On 20 August 2009, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah handed Letters of Credentials to newly appointed Brunei envoys at Istana Nurul Iman.

Personal life
Yusoff was born on 1 March 1949, in Kuala Belait, is married to Datin Mahani bin Dato Haji Abu Zar, and they have three sons and one daughter. He enjoys golf, walking, and jogging while he is not handling foreign affairs for his country.

Honours
Yusoff has earned the following honours:
 * BRU_Order_of_the_Crown_of_Brunei.svg Order of Seri Paduka Mahkota Brunei Second Class (DPMB) – Dato Paduka
 * BRU_Order_of_Loyalty_to_the_State_of_Brunei.svg Order of Setia Negara Brunei Third Class (SNB); Fourth Class (PSB)
 * Medal_for_Service_to_State_(Brunei).jpg Excellent Service Medal (PIKB)