Executive Committee

Professor Peter Wilson - Senior Member

Prof Peter Wilson, BA (Hons), PhD, FRHistS has served as senior member of OUSSG since 2017 . His research focuses on military history, particularly War in seventeenth to nineteenth century world history, the social, cultural, political or military history of German-speaking Europe and European history from 1500-1800. He has a long and distinguished history of lecturing in History and is currently the Chichele Professor of the History of War and has been a fellow of All Souls since 2015.

Yi Hao Wong - President

Yi Hao reads history and economics at Harris Manchester College. Before matriculating in 2023, he served as a Platoon Commander in the Singaporean Armed Forces. He is interested in civil-military relations issues, non-kinetic forms of warfare, and the use of open-source intelligence on the battlefield. In his tenure, he hopes to deepen OUSSG’s organisational partnerships, strengthen outreach within the university, and bring society members past and present together with flagship events.

Oskari Penttinen - Vice President

Oskari is a first-year history and politics student at Corpus Christi College. Prior to studying at Oxford, he fulfilled his conscription in the Finnish Defense Forces as an NCO. He is interested in conventional land warfare, power projection, societal crisis resiliency, and how militaries efficiently and effectively maintain their rapid response capabilities and readiness.

Ben Smith - Secretary

Ben is a first-year DPhil in International Relations studying the G7 responses to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Ben is originally from the UK, but spent much of his early life in New Zealand. He’s been back in the UK for the past five years, studying in London at both KCL and LSE. Those experiences have given him an international mindset he hopes to take in working with others from places throughout the world involved in OUSSG.

Zachary Turinsky - Treasurer

Zachary is a first-year at St. Edmund’s Hall studying history. He is from the United States, and is particularly interested in historical strategy, world order, and applied history.

Zhi-Xuan Koh - Development Director

Zhi-Xuan is a second year undergraduate reading history and politics at St. John’s College. He is also a career officer with the Republic of Singapore Navy. His intellectual interests revolve around military strategy, organisation, and transformations in the twenty-first century. In his capacity as Development Director, Zhi-Xuan hopes to create opportunities for students aspiring to join the defense sector to network with relevant professionals and further their pursuits in geopolitics and military affairs.

Justin Huff - Technology Director

Justin Huff is a first year reading philosophy, politics, and economics at St. Hilda’s College. He is from Southern California in the United States. Justin is primarily interested in general naval strategy and the role of seapower and maritime institutions in maintaining global trade networks. In his tenure as Technology Director, Justin hopes to revamp OUSSG’s online and social media presence, along with analysing event data to optimize OUSSG’s functions.

If you have a matter you’d like to reach out to the committee about, and feel as though the ordinary channels of communication have not been sufficient in addressing your needs, you can contact either President Yi Hao Wong at yihao.wong@hmc.ox.ac.uk or Vice President Oskari Penttinen at oskari.penttinen@ccc.ox.ac.uk